Festlig Faglig Fredag with Ron Nudel: The Language of Genetics and the Genetics of Language

Regional association plot for the genome-wide significant association for specific language impairment on chromosome 14q12
Regional association plot for the genome-wide significant association for specific language impairment on chromosome 14q12. The figure shows a close-up of the top single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association from a study of specific language impairment, a neurodevelopmental disorder involving a primary deficit in language ability, and the surrounding SNPs (top panel) and genes (bottom panel). Image from Nudel et al. 2014. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12127

We're happy to announce yet another special Festlig Faglig Fredag.

This time Ron Nudel, who is not only a friend of the house but also a postdoc in psychiatric genetics who has a Bachelor's degree in linguistics, will give the talk:

The Language of Genetics and the Genetics of Language

Ron Nudel
Copenhagen University Hospital and
CORE – Copenhagen Research Center for Mental Health, Psychiatric Center Copenhagen

My talk will consist of three parts: the first part will introduce basic concepts in statistics and genetics, with a focus on the application of principal component analysis to genetic data as a means to exploring genetic variation across (ancient) individuals. The method will be explained and emphasis will be given to the interpretation of the results of this type of analysis as seen in many studies on the genetic history of Indo-Europeans.

The second part of the talk will briefly explain the main approaches to finding genes that are involved in human diseases, with a focus on developmental disorders involving language development. It will explore the first gene found to be involved in a speech and language disorder and its function. Additionally, examples of current research on the genetic basis of abnormal language development will be shown, including examples from my work on specific language impairment.

Lastly, in the third part, the idea of using the results from genetic studies of language traits to study the evolution of language and linguistic features will be explored.

As always, we'll meet from 16:00, and Ron will begin his talk at 16:15.

Everyone is welcome!