Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Dyslexia is a neurodevelopmental disorder typically diagnosed in school-aged children and associated with poor school performance and lower levels of educational attainment (EA). Here, we aimed to test the shared genetic architecture between dyslexia and EA, to dissect the polygenic contribution of dyslexia by its relationship with EA and to assess how these genetic partitions influence school performance, early manifestation of psychopathology and related traits. We first confirmed a negative genetic correlation between dyslexia and EA (rg = -0.186, SE = 0.019, P = 1.75E-22). Then, polygenic scores for EA and dyslexia were tested in a cohort of 4274 school-aged children, revealing opposite direction of the effect in school performance. Next, we dissected the genetic liability for dyslexia into components shared with, and independent of, EA. The results revealed similar patterns of association for performance in primary and foreign languages, but distinct patterns when comparing these language-related subjects with mathematics. The dyslexia-specific genetic component independent of EA was associated with poorer academic outcomes in language-related subjects and increased rates of psychopathology, supporting the existence of dyslexia-specific genetic effects beyond general cognitive or educational pathways. In contrast, the genetic load of dyslexia that overlaps with EA contributes to school performance in both language-related subjects and mathematics and displayed opposite patterns of association dependent on whether concordant and discordant genomic partitions were considered. The discordant partition was associated with poorer school performance and higher rates of behavioral and emotional problems, with these associations being partially mediated by the dyslexia diagnosis (accounting for a reduction in effect size ranging from 10.44-12.91%). Conversely, the concordant partition was only associated with better performance in mathematics. Overall, these findings highlight the polygenic contribution of dyslexia to both academic and psychopathological outcomes, support distinct genetic influences on language skills and mathematics, and underscore the usage of the genetic load for EA to deepen insight into the complex genetic relationship between dyslexia and school performance.
Source: Translational Psychiatry
Authors: Marta Graell, Rosa Bosch, María Soler Artigas, Silvia Alemany, Natalia Llonga, Pau Carabí-Gassol, Uxue Zubizarreta-Arruti, Valeria Macias-Chimborazo, Marina Mitjans, Mireia Pagerols, Èlia Pagespetit, Raquel Prat, Júlia Puigbó, Cristina Rivas, Laura Martinez, Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga, Miquel Casas, Marta Ribasés, Judit Cabana-Domínguez
Institutions: Vall d'Hebron Institut de Recerca, Vall d'Hebron Hospital Universitari, Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Acreditat Institut de Recerca - Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Universitat de Barcelona, Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, Althaia, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Institut de Biomedicina de la Universitat de Barcelona, Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,290
Funders: European Commission, Generalitat de Catalunya, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Cilag, NextGenerationEU
Awards: G1124005961, G1568148067, G1795826554, G1888088267, G1953887145, G2628364946, Más allá del riesgo genético para el TDAH: contribución genética a la resiliencia en una muestra clínica, G3480869486, Development, dIagnostic and prevention of gender-related Somatic and mental COmorbitiEs in iRritable bowel syndrome In Europe, G363525713, Más allá del riesgo genético para el TDAH: contribución genética a la resiliencia en una muestra poblacional, G4937468798, G5074485814, Explorando la base epigenética y Ambiental de los problemas externalizantes e internalizantes (EPI-ENVI), G5554424168, G570796765, G6033112984, G662545860, G683931746, Modelos predictivos basados en datos genéticos, transcriptómicos y de micro ARN para el estudio del TDAH: un enfoque multiómico, G7084143925, Estudio de asociación a escala transcriptómica (TWAS) en Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad (TDAH), G7859376619, G8824911526
OpenAlex ID: W7162076385