The forkhead domain FOXP2 and FOXP1 transcription factors are implicated in several cognitive disorders with language deficits, notably autism, and thus play a central role in learned vocal motor behavior in humans. Although a similar role for FoxP2 and FoxP1 is proposed for other vertebrate species, including songbirds, the neurodevelopmental expression of these genes are unknown in a species ...

The transcription repressor FOXP2 is a crucial player in nervous system evolution and development of humans and songbirds. In order to provide an additional insight into its functional role we compared target gene expression levels between human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) stably overexpressing FOXP2 cDNA of either humans or the common chimpanzee, Rhesus monkey, and marmoset, respectively. RN...

Forkhead box protein P2 (FOXP2) is a well-studied gene known to play an essential role in normal speech development. Deletions in the gene have been shown to result in developmental speech disorders and regulatory disruption of downstream gene targets associated with common forms of language impairments. Despite similarities in motor planning and execution between speech development and oral fe...

FOXP2 mutations cause a monogenic speech disorder in humans. In this issue of Neuron, Murugan et al. (2013) show that knockdown of FoxP2 in the songbird basal ganglia causes abnormal vocal variability and excess bursting in a frontal cortical nucleus.

Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by progressive language impairment. Polymorphisms within forkhead box P2 gene (FOXP2) gene have been associated with speech and language impairment. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype and PRNP 129 codon status have been demonstrated to increase the risk of PPA, but with contrasting results. In the present study, we have e...

Adult mouse ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) occur in multiple behavioral and stimulus contexts associated with various levels of arousal, emotion and social interaction. Here, in three experiments of increasing stimulus intensity (water; female urine; male interacting with adult female), we tested the hypothesis that USVs of adult males express the strength of arousal and emotion via different ...

Speech requires precise motor control and rapid sequencing of highly complex vocal musculature. Despite its complexity, most people produce spoken language effortlessly. This is due to activity in distributed neuronal circuitry including cortico-striato-thalamic loops that control speech-motor output. Understanding the neuro-genetic mechanisms involved in the correct development and function of...

The objective of the study is to determine whether salivary FOXP2 gene expression levels at the initiation of oral feeding attempts are predictive of oral feeding success in the premature newborn. In this prospective study, saliva samples from 21 premature infants (13 males; birth gestational age [GA]: 30-34 wk) were collected around the initiation of oral feeding trials. Total RNA was extracte...

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a type of endogenous non-coding RNAs, which have been considered to mediate diverse tumorigenesis including angiogenesis. The present study aims to elucidate the potential role and molecular mechanism of circ-SHKBP1 in regulating the angiogenesis of U87 glioma-exposed endothelial cells (GECs). The expression of circ-SHKBP1, but not linear SHKBP1, was significantly u...

BACKGROUND Rare mutations affecting the FOXP2 transcription factor cause a monogenic speech and language disorder. We hypothesized that neural pathways downstream of FOXP2 influence more common phenotypes, such as specific language impairment. METHODS We performed genomic screening for regions bound by FOXP2 using chromatin immunoprecipitation, which led us to focus on one particular gene tha...