Genetic and environmental architecture of synaesthesia and its association with the autism spectrum-a twin study
Taylor,Mark J van Leeuwen,Tessa Kuja-Halkola,Ralf Lundström,Sebastian Larsson,Henrik Lichtenstein,Paul Bölte,Sven Neufeld,Janina
Taylor,Mark J
van Leeuwen,Tessa
Kuja-Halkola,Ralf
Lundström,Sebastian
Larsson,Henrik
Lichtenstein,Paul
Bölte,Sven
Neufeld,Janina
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.
Description
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors.
Date
2023-10-25
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
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Keywords
Humans, Adolescent, Autistic Disorder, Sensation, Self Report, Autism Spectrum Disorder/genetics
Citation
Taylor, M J, van Leeuwen, T, Kuja-Halkola, R, Lundström, S, Larsson, H, Lichtenstein, P, Bölte, S & Neufeld, J 2023, 'Genetic and environmental architecture of synaesthesia and its association with the autism spectrum-a twin study', Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, vol. 290, no. 2009, 20231888. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.1888