Life experiences put their stamp on the next generation: New insights from epigenetics
Thursday, February 14, 2013 - 08:30
in Psychology & Sociology
There has long been the impression that major life events, like psychological traumas, not only have effects on individuals who directly experience these events, but also have effects on their children. Until recently, these trans-generational effects were attributed to changes in the way that parents treated their children or the child's reaction to learning about the parent's history. In a new article, researchers discuss how the emergence of the field of epigenetics has introduced a new component to this discussion -- the trans-generational transmission of changes in the regulation of gene expression.