GCPH Seminar Series 9 Lecture 5 - Prof. Rachel Yehuda

How the effects of traumatic stress are transmitted to the next generation 

Our understanding of the effects of extreme adversity has evolved a great deal over the last several decades. Early studies emphasised that the effects of stress were temporary and could be restored to pre-stress conditions by removing the stressor. It is now clear that although some effects of stress are transient, many persist for years and decades, and some are even transmitted to the next generation. The biological underpinnings of these effects have only been discovered recently, but allow for a more precise description of the effects of adversity, including, most importantly, the subjective feeling of survivors that extremely adverse events are transformative. The idea that many biological systems do not simply return to baseline levels is an important concept that has implications for understanding how environmental events change the way genes function to produce responses that are more conducive to resilience and good health. Most of the work presented described decade long studies of adult children of Holocaust survivors, and studies of babies born in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, thus special considerations regarding the effects of stress on pregnancy were also considered.