Epigenetic alterations due to stress

Acute stress alters control of gene activity August 15, 2012 in Psychology & Psychiatry

Excerpt: “Previous studies have shown that stressful experiences and psychological trauma in early life are associated with long-term altered DNA methylation. Whether the DNA methylation also changes after acute psychosocial stress, was, however, previously unknown.”

My comment:

Nutritional and social stress act via the same central neuronal system in mammals, as detailed in Kohl, J.V. (2012) Human pheromones and food odors: epigenetic influences on the socioaffective nature of evolved behaviors. Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, 2: 17338.

Integrating what is currently known about chemical ecology and adaptive evolution via ecological, social, neurogenic, and socio-cognitive niche construction might help others to better realize that “Olfaction and odor receptors provide a clear evolutionary trail that can be followed from unicellular organisms to insects to humans.”

Excerpt 2 (from the article linked above): The work originated within the framework of an interdisciplinary research consortium with the University of Trier, the University of Basel and King’s College London. The German Research Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation supported the study.

My comment:

This work originated within the framework of interdisciplinary research by two independent researchers with no financial support who collaborated with academically talented researchers beginning in the early 1990s. By 1996, for example, we had a section on Molecular Epigenetics in our Hormones and Behavior review article: From fertilization to adult sexual behavior.