Musical rhythm abilities and risk for developmental speech-language problems and disorders: epidemiological and polygenic associations
Year: 2024
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: 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. Findings were consistent across multiple independent datasets and rhythm subskills (including beat synchronization and rhythm discrimination), 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 indicate shared genetic architecture between musical rhythm and reading abilities, providing evidence for genetic pleiotropy between rhythm and language-related phenotypes.
Institutions: Princeton University, University of Potsdam, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, University of Colorado Boulder, University of London, Goldsmiths University of London, Boys Town, Karolinska Institutet, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Funders: Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
OpenAlex ID: W4409417143