Abstract

That speech and language are innate capacities of the human brain has long been widely accepted, but only recently has an entry point into the genetic basis of these remarkable faculties been found. The discovery of a mutation in FOXP2 in a family with a speech and language disorder has enabled neuroscientists to trace the neural expression of this gene during embryological development, track the effects of this gene mutation on brain structure and function, and so begin to decipher that part of our neural inheritance that culminates in articulate speech.

Author affiliations

1. Institute of Child Health, University College London and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK.
2. Laboratory of Neuropsychology, National Institute of Mental Health, Building 49, Suite 1B-80, 49 Convent Drive, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.

Correspondence to: Faraneh Vargha-Khadem¹ Email: fkhadem@ich.ucl.ac.uk

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