ABSTRACT
Reading is a complex and highly variable skill that is strongly modulated by experience and the environment. But reading is also modulated by developmental, neuroanatomical, and functional characteristics that are themselves strongly influenced by gene variants (Fisher & DeFries, 2002). Heritability estimates for developmental dyslexia have a wide range (15% to 75% with a mean of about 35%) that are dependent on the particular groups that are studied, the specific tests, and the environmental context. Obviously, genetics is only part of the picture, but it is the part that is particularly amenable to direct molecular analysis. Advances in functional genomics are already having an impact, and the main purpose of this chapter is to illustrate a few of the new possibilities in exploiting novel genomics resources and tools to probe genetic and functional networks associated with developmental dyslexia.
