Can We Inherit Memories From Our Ancestors? Is Genetic Memory Real?

Intriguing recent research now reveals that ancestral memories may be inherited by offspring. Could traumatic memories inherited from our ancestors contribute to the rising incidence of mental illness?

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Sources:
https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjourn...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomm...
https://www.pnas.org/content/107/39/1...
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...
https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/scien...

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Recent research in model organisms reveals that traumatic memories may be inherited across several generations, and may predispose offspring to mental illness.

Charles Darwin proposed the theory of natural selection, positing that inherited gene mutations provide offspring with a survival advantage in their environment. Around the same time, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck postulated that organisms could pass down acquired characteristics. He was ridiculed mercilessly. You can’t pass these traits down to your offspring, or can you?

Studies show that exercise-induced benefits can be passed down to offspring, in the form of improved mitochondrial efficiency. Acquiring particularly salient memories from our ancestors could help us know the challenges they faced in their environment and provide us with unique adaptations that ensure our own survival.

For memories to be passed down, they first need to be stored as physical structures in the brain. But this would require information stored in neurons to be transferred and encoded in germline (sperm/egg) cells. One lab found that transferring the RNA of sea slugs trained to respond to a gentle touch that was previously unknown to them could pass on this "trained memory" to other, naïve slugs. This suggests that RNA could be the signal that is used to transfer memories from neurons to germline. But how are these memories encoded and stored?

Epigenetic processes play a role in memory consolidation and help to transmit acquired memories across generations. Specifically, environmental experiences turning our genes “on” or “off” in a context-dependent manner, without changing the underlying genetic code.

Mice conditioned to fear the smell of acetone (by pairing the smell with an electrical shock) can pass on this fear to offspring that had never encountered acetone before. Researchers studying three generations of mice found that their brains had increased electrical activity, size, and number of the specific olfactory sensory neurons that responded to the smell of acetone.

This can occur in humans as well. The Dutch Hunger Winter (DHW) Study, for example, looked at an extended period of famine towards the end of WWII, when Nazi soldiers blocked food supplies to the Netherlands for several months. This horrific act killed more than 20,000 people, and left thousands more severely ill. Pregnant women were particularly vulnerable.

The DHW found that these women's children had a higher incidence of metabolic diseases such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes, suggesting their bodies were programmed to alter their metabolism and hold on to every last calorie in case they too had to face a famine similar to that of their ancestors. The grandchildren showed similar predispositions for metabolic disease suggesting a mechanism of transgenerational inheritance.

The Holocaust Survivors Study assessed the health and wellness of the children of dozens of Holocaust survivors and found they had a distinctive epigenetic profile (methylation pattern) on genes linked to cortisol metabolism which was similar to their parents. Could the trauma and stress of the Holocaust survivors have been epigenetically imprinted on their children so that they too had the capacity for a heightened stress response?

Answers to these questions can deepen our understanding of mental health and lead to paths of increased well-being through better treatments.

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#ststw #memory #epigenetics #engrams #germline #brain #neuroscience #rna #ptsd #trauma #depression #anxiety #famine #darwin #biology #DNA #mentalhealth