Can you inherit trauma? How does trauma effect the brain? How does it affect future generations? Interesting research being done on the effects of famine in the Netherlands could have an impact on future generations. Some of their children and even their grandchildren had metabolic issues. Could my parents born at the start of the depression have an impact on me or my kids?
How could stress effect the biology of their offspring? Could a memory be maintained in the sperm and the egg and show up in their progeny? I had to find out. I find this fascinating…but I’m a geek for medical research. (Click on the link below to go to this particular part of the video.)
Your Brain: Who’s in Control? | How Does Trauma Affect the Brain?
We inherit our genes from our ancestors but it doesn’t tell us where we are going to be born. It has such an enormous amount of information for the offspring. The environment and societal constraints are more important than the biology of the mother.
Our brains have evolved and now our genes are maladaptive and what used to protect us is now destroying us.
The modern way by which we study epigenetics. We can now map those chemical marks, which we call methylation marks on DNA at a single nucleotide resolution. We can map the entire genome. We can now compare the monkey who had a mother and who did not. The genes that got more methylated are red, the genes that got less methylated are green. You can see many genes are changing. Because not having a mother is not just one thing. It effects the whole way, this signals the whole way your world is going to look like when you become an adult. Do we sense our social status even at the moment of birth? — Moshe Szyf
Epigenetics - our bodies' way to change the destiny written in our DNA
Can we reprogram the genes to change the biological consequences of the effects of stress on the DNA based on the methylation markings. If the DNA methylation is increased the monkeys go crazy but if we decrease the DNA methylation we reprogram them and they are not addicted to the cocaine.
You have a degree of control over your genetics with new approaches in epigenetics. We have the freedom to set up our life to one with responsibility. — Moshe Szyf, Epigenetics - our bodies' way to change the destiny written in our DNA
Today’s feature photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash