WARNING: the interactive features of this website use CSS3, which your browser does not support. To use the full features of this website, please update your browser.
Abstract
Identifying the genes that contribute to the variability in brain regions involved in language processing may shed light on the evolution of brain structures essential to the emergence of language in Homosapiens. The superior temporal asymmetrical pit (STAP), which is not observed in chimpanzees, represents an ideal phenotype to investigate the genetic variations that support human communication. The left STAP depth was significantly associated with a predicted enhancer annotation located in the 14q23.1 locus, between DACT1 and KIAA0586, in the UK Biobank British discovery sample (N=16,515). The same locus also significantly associates with fractional anisotropy of the left auditory fibers of the corpus callosum and with functional networks involved in linguistic processing. Overall, this evidence demonstrates a specific relationship between this locus and the establishment of the superior temporal regions that support human communication.