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Transgenerational transmission of pregestational and prenatal experience: maternal adversity, enrichment, and underlying epigenetic and environmental mechanisms

Part of: Prenatal Origins of Adult Mental Health and Illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2016

L. Taouk  and
J. Schulkin
L. Taouk
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA Department of Research, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Washington, DC, USA
J. Schulkin*
Affiliation:
Department of Research, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Washington, DC, USA Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: J. Schulkin, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University, 3700 O St. NW, Washington, DC 20057, USA. (Email jschulkin@acog.org)
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Abstract

Transgenerational transmission refers to positive and negative adaptations in brain function and behavior that affect following generations. In this paper, empirical findings regarding the transgenerational transmission of maternal adversity during three critical periods – childhood, pregestational adulthood and pregnancy – will be reviewed in terms of pregnancy outcomes, maternal care, offspring behavior and development, and physiological functioning. Research on the transgenerational transmission of enrichment and the implications for interventions to ameliorate the consequences of adversity will also be presented. In the final section, underlying epigenetic and environmental mechanisms that have been proposed to explain how experience is transferred across generations through transgenerational transmission will be reviewed. Directions for future research are suggested throughout.

Keywords

adversityenrichmentepigeneticsprenatal/pregestationaltransgenerational
Type
Review
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 7 , Issue 6: Themed Issue: Developmental Origins of Adult Mental Health and Illness , December 2016 , pp. 588 - 601
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Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2016 

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