In “Study finds PTSD may linger in body chemistry of next generation,” Rachel Yehuda explained the consequences associated with trauma to the body wonderfully. I would have never predicted that a parent’s gene response to a trauma would be passed down to their child/children. I found her study on Holocaust survivors and their children incredibly fascinating. It’s interesting to me that children are born with the same changes in cortisol as their parents that endured the trauma. It really has nothing to do with upbringing and the environment they lived in; it all has to do with genetics, in this case. The implications of epigenetic transmission in regards to various historical trauma associated with structural inequality is, I would think, that it would also be genetically passed down to children, like an endured physical trauma such as 9/11. I believe trauma is trauma, regardless of how severe it is; and that trauma would presumably be genetically passed on to the next generation.
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