Genetic and environmental architecture of synaesthesia and its association with the autism spectrum-a twin study.
Proc Biol Sci
; 290(2009): 20231888, 2023 10 25.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37876199
ABSTRACT
Synaesthesia is a sensory phenomenon where external stimuli, such as sounds or letters, trigger additional sensations (e.g. colours). Synaesthesia aggregates in families but its heritability is unknown. The phenomenon is more common in people on the autism spectrum compared with the general population and associated with higher autistic traits. Using classical twin design, we assessed the heritability of individual differences in self-reported synaesthesia and the genetic and environmental contributions to their association with autistic traits within a population twin cohort (n = 4262, age = 18 years). We estimated individual differences in synaesthesia to be heritable and influenced by environmental factors not shared between twins. The association between individual differences in synaesthesia and autistic traits was estimated to be predominantly under genetic influence and seemed to be mainly driven by non-social autistic traits (repetitive behaviours, restricted interests and attention to detail). Our study suggests that the link between synaesthesia and autism might reside in shared genetic causes, related to non-social autistic traits such as alterations in perception. Future studies building on these findings may attempt to identify specific groups of genes that influence both autism, synaesthesia and perception.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Trastorno Autístico
/
Trastorno del Espectro Autista
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Proc Biol Sci
Asunto de la revista:
BIOLOGIA
Año:
2023
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suecia