Kidd K K, Heimbuch R C, Records M A
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jan;78(1):606-10. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.1.606.
Stuttering is not usually considered genetic, although it has long been known to be familial. Data collected on 2035 relatives of 397 unrelated adult stutterers confirm and quantify the strong familial concentration. Our analytic approach to these family data, one that does not require specification of a genetic hypothesis, shows that stuttering among relatives occurs in a pattern indicating vertical transmission of a susceptibility to stuttering with sex-modified expression. Although simple Mendelian hypotheses are not sufficient to explain the observed pattern of stuttering in families, more complex genetic models can explain the pattern. In the past, such evidence has been considered sufficient, because it does not preclude the possibility of cultural transmission. However, certain cultural transmission hypotheses previously proposed for stuttering are excluded by these data. The findings in this study support a growing opinion among speech pathologists that most stuttering is a genetically inherited neurologic disorder.
口吃通常不被认为是遗传性的，尽管长期以来人们都知道它具有家族性。对397名无血缘关系的成年口吃者的2035名亲属收集的数据证实并量化了这种强烈的家族聚集性。我们对这些家族数据的分析方法，即一种不需要设定遗传假设的方法，表明亲属中的口吃呈现出一种模式，表明口吃易感性的垂直传递存在性别修饰表达。虽然简单的孟德尔假设不足以解释在家族中观察到的口吃模式，但更复杂的遗传模型可以解释这种模式。过去，这样的证据被认为是充分的，因为它并不排除文化传播的可能性。然而，这些数据排除了先前为口吃提出的某些文化传播假设。本研究的结果支持了言语病理学家中越来越多的一种观点，即大多数口吃是一种遗传性神经疾病。
