Isabelle Mansuy, a professor at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, has led a research program for over two decades that has provided the strongest evidence of transgenerational trauma transmission in mammals—non-human, but the animal model allows for experimental controls impossible in humans.
The canonical study (Gapp et al., 2014, Nature Neuroscience 17:667-669) worked with male mice subjected to unpredictable stress in infancy (maternal separation) and documented: (1) behavioral changes in the traumatized mice (depression, risk-taking behaviors), (2) the same changes in their offspring, (3) changes in the grandchildren, (4) in the great-grandchildren—four generations affected by trauma experienced by just one—, (5) the transmission operates through non-coding RNA in the sperm of the traumatized father.
Subsequent work from the Mansuy laboratory has identified specific microRNAs involved, shown that transmission operates via both paternal and maternal routes, and documented that certain environmental interventions can partially reverse transgenerational marks.
Important for the debate: the Mansuy model is in mice. Extrapolating to humans requires caution. But it provides biological proof of concept that transgenerational trauma transmission is possible in mammals, which makes the equivalent hypothesis in humans scientifically plausible.
Bibliography
- Implication of sperm RNAs in transgenerational inheritance of the effects of early trauma in mice — Katharina Gapp, Isabelle Mansuy et al.. Nature Neuroscience, 17(5), 667-669, 2014.
- Parental olfactory experience influences behavior and neural structure in subsequent generations — Brian Dias, Kerry Ressler. Nature Neuroscience, 17(1), 89-96, 2014.
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Related terms
Epigenetics
The study of changes in gene expression that do NOT alter the DNA sequence, are heritable, and can be activated by life experiences —including trauma—.
See entryTransgenerational trauma
Pain or trauma not processed by one generation that is transmitted —psychically, somatically, and, according to recent evidence, epigenetically— to subsequent generations.
See entryIntergenerational vs. Transgenerational Trauma
An important technical distinction: intergenerational = trauma transmitted to the next generation (parents-children). Transgenerational = spans several generations, including those not exposed to the original trauma.
See entryDNA Methylation
A key epigenetic mechanism: the addition of methyl groups (CH3) to DNA cytosines. Tends to silence gene expression. Documented mediators of transgenerational transmission.
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