Genome-Wide Studies of Specific Language Impairment

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a multifactorial neurodevelopmental disorder which occurs unexpectedly and without an obvious cause. Over a decade of research suggests that SLI is highly heritable. Several genes and loci have already been implicated in SLI through linkage and targeted association methods. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of SLI and language traits in the general population have been reported and, consequently, new candidate genes have been identified. This review aims to summarise the literature concerning genome-wide studies of SLI. In addition, this review highlights the methodologies that have been used to research the genetics of SLI to date, and also considers the current, and future, contributions that GWAS can offer.