Cerebral Palsy – It Can Be in Your Genes

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Newswise An international research group led by a team at the University of Adelaide has made what they believe could be the biggest discovery into cerebral palsy in 20 years.

It has long been the belief that cerebral palsy occurs when a child experiences a lack of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth. However, the Australian Collaborative Cerebral Palsy Research Group, based at the University of Adelaides Robinson Research Institute, has found at least 14% of cerebral palsy cases are likely caused by a genetic mutation.

The findings of this research are published in the Nature journal, Molecular Psychiatry.

The Head of the Cerebral Palsy Research Group, Emeritus Professor Alastair MacLennan, says prior to this research it was believed that as little as 1% of cerebral palsy cases had a genetic cause.

Cerebral palsy is a major neurodevelopmental disorder, which disrupts movement control, and it occurs in 1 in 400 children, Emeritus Professor MacLennan says.

While we have long suspected that genes may play a role in the development of cerebral palsy, it wasnt until our research group mapped the DNA from cerebral palsy families that we could show genetic mutations are the likely cause of the condition in at least 14% of cases, he says.

Professor Jozef Gecz, University of Adelaide genetic scientist, says because cerebral palsy is at least partly genetic in origin there will be significant changes in the approach to diagnosis, management and treatment of the condition.

Our findings of genetic diversity in cerebral palsy are similar to the genetic architecture of other neurological disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities, epilepsies, autisms and schizophrenias, Professor Gecz says.

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Cerebral Palsy - It Can Be in Your Genes