Monday, February 01, 2010

Presentations of NSA research symposium.

Here is a link to the presentations from the 2009 NSA research symposium. Check out Drayna's presentation. (Thanks to a reader for the tip.)

3 comments:

Gustaf said...

Drayna is the next person for you to interview, Tom! I'm curious whether he would accept my Swedish DNA for his studies. I'd even pay $25 to participate. Imagine a research database with DNA from all over the world, like the Genographic Project, but only for stutterers! Maybe we can find out where the first stutterer lived... :-)

Kanstantsin said...

Drayna does not reveal the names of genes in this presentation, however my guess is that these are the genes involved in serotonine metabolism.

It looks like at least some "stuttering genes" might be the mutated versions of genes that are involved in regulation of function of neurotransmitters (like GABA and dopamine). Mutations of these genes would lead to abnormal functioning of some brain region(s) and as a result to stuttering (and other effects, like increased anxiety, for example).

Tom Weidig said...

Hi Kanstantin,

you sound like you know what you are talking about!

What makes you guess this? These "neurotransmitter" genes would not lead to structural difference? so why does brain imaging shows differences?

you can email me at tom dot weidig at gmail if you ever want to post a more detailed version of your guesses.

best wishes,
tom