Researchers have found that a few genetic factors contribute in the language development of an infant. The early stages in the language development of a child happen due to genetic factors.
Scientist and their colleagues of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Integrative Epidemiology Unit at University of Bristol and colleagues have found out that there is a significant link between genetic changes near the ROBO2 gene and the words being spoken by infants in the early stages of language development.
Children start speaking within 10-15 months after birth and the range of their vocabulary increases from around 50 words at 15-18 months to 200 words at 18-30 months and then gradually up to 50000 words by the time a child completes his schooling.
The researchers discovered the genetic link in the age group of 15-18 months when little tots try to blabber single words to two words and gradually progress to complex sentence structures.
The ROBO gene2 is said to have instructions for making the ROBO protein. The protein directly communicates with the chemical cells in brain and other neurological cell formation that helps in the development of child’s language ability.
The ROBO 2 protein also interacts with other ROBO proteins which were previously linked with reading problems and speech disorders.
Dr Beate St Pourcain, who led the research with Professor Davey Smith at the unit states that this research has helped a lot in understanding the genetic factors which may be involved in the initial language development of in healthy children, especially when the child starts with single words only.
This research is also helpful in strengthening the link between ROBO2 proteins and various linguistic skills of humans.