Pediatrics, Scott-Van Zeeland et al People with a common variant
of the CNTNAP2 gene, a gene associated with a heightened risk of
autism, ADD/ADHD and other language difficulties, have a
"disconnect" between their frontal lobe and other areas of the
brain important for language, according to this fMRI study. The
disconnect may help explain some of the language and
communication difficulties that are characteristic of autism.
About one-third of all people carry the variant of the CNTNAP2
gene. Regardless of whether the test subjects had autism or not,
children with the CNTNAP2 "risk" gene showed more activity in
the frontal lobe of the brain during a "language learning" task
than those without the 'risk' gene.