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- Title
Genetic association analysis of human median voice pitch identifies a common locus for tonal and non-tonal languages.
- Authors
Di, Yazheng; Mefford, Joel; Rahmani, Elior; Wang, Jinhan; Ravi, Vijay; Gorla, Aditya; Alwan, Abeer; Zhu, Tingshao; Flint, Jonathan
- Abstract
The genetic influence on human vocal pitch in tonal and non-tonal languages remains largely unknown. In tonal languages, such as Mandarin Chinese, pitch changes differentiate word meanings, whereas in non-tonal languages, such as Icelandic, pitch is used to convey intonation. We addressed this question by searching for genetic associations with interindividual variation in median pitch in a Chinese major depression case-control cohort and compared our results with a genome-wide association study from Iceland. The same genetic variant, rs11046212-T in an intron of the ABCC9 gene, was one of the most strongly associated loci with median pitch in both samples. Our meta-analysis revealed four genome-wide significant hits, including two novel associations. The discovery of genetic variants influencing vocal pitch across both tonal and non-tonal languages suggests the possibility of a common genetic contribution to the human vocal system shared in two distinct populations with languages that differ in tonality (Icelandic and Mandarin). A GWAS finds genetic link in ABCC9 gene affecting vocal pitch in both Mandarin and Icelandic speakers, suggesting a shared genetic influence on human vocal systems across populations.
- Subjects
ICELAND; TONE (Phonetics); HUMAN voice; GENOME-wide association studies; GENETIC variation; CHINESE language
- Publication
Communications Biology, 2024, Vol 7, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2399-3642
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s42003-024-06198-2