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Musical rhythm impairments are a risk factor for developmental speech, language, and reading disorders: epidemiological and polygenic associations
Poster Session C, Friday, October 25, 4:30 - 6:00 pm, Great Hall 3 and 4
Reyna Gordon1,2, Srishti Nayak1, Eniko Ladanyi1, Else Eising2, Yasmina Mekki1, Rachana Nitin1, Catherine Bush1, Daniel Gustavson3, Manuel Anglada-Tort4, Hope Lancaster5, Cyrille Magne6, Simon Fisher2,7, Nori Jacoby4; 1Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, 3University of Colorado, 4Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, 5Boys Town National Research Hospital, 6Middle Tennessee State University, 7Radboud University
Impaired musical rhythm abilities and developmental speech-language related disorders are biologically and clinically intertwined. Prior work examining their relationship has primarily used small samples; here, we studied associations at population-scale by conducting the largest systematic epidemiological investigation to date (total N = 39,092). Based on existing theoretical frameworks, we predicted that rhythm impairment would be a significant risk factor for speech-language disorders in the general adult population. In the current study, we analyzed multiple independent datasets and rhythm subskills (including beat synchronization and rhythm discrimination) in relation to retrospective reporting of developmental speech, language, and reading disorders. Results were consistent with hypotheses, and aggregate meta-analyzed data showed that rhythm impairment is a modest but consistent risk factor for developmental speech, language, and reading disorders (OR = 1.32 [1.14 – 1.49]; p < .0001). Further, cross-trait polygenic score analyses suggested for genetic pleiotropy between rhythm and language-related phenotypes. We then examined potential relationships between behavioral musical rhythm scores, genetic predispositions for musical rhythm abilities, and speech-language disorder outcomes, by testing a mediation model in one of the cohorts (N=1792). Results showed that the association between behavioral musical rhythm scores and speech-language disorder outcomes was significantly mediated by rhythm polygenic scores, providing further evidence in favor of shared neurobiological or genetic underpinnings between rhythm and speech-language traits. Results will be discussed in light of potential neurobiological mechanisms and other other recent work showing shared genetic architecture between rhythm and language traits.
Topic Areas: Disorders: Developmental, Genetics