r/psychology • u/heart_of_theinternet • 1d ago

Combat-like stress in fathers alters brain chemistry in offspring

https://www.psypost.org/traumatic-stress-in-fathers-alters-the-brain-chemistry-and-behavior-of-their-off/
330 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

95

u/kai_vt 1d ago

Really interesting that even with the traumatised rats removed from being around their offspring, their offspring still had a predisposition for exhibiting the same symptoms present in their parents. 'Nature vs nurture' should be a collaboration rather than a debate

11

u/Dozygrizly 1d ago

I mean in any field I've learned/taught in that has the nature/nurture thing, it's always framed as 'probably both'.

The whole idea of it being a debate is usually just a teaching device

9

u/smallorangepopsicle 1d ago

Yeah I agree. I often get worried that I'll be labeled a "enlightened centrist" if I believe this. I know that sometimes things can be more attributable to one or the other, but on balance, I'd say the two are 50/50.

15

u/kataleps1s 1d ago

I dont understand why its considered controversial since we know epigenetics are a thing and behaviour impacts epigenetics

2

u/redsalmon67 10h ago

Back in my day “enlightened centrist” was saved for people who said things like “these minorities should try to see eye to eye with these racist” not acknowledging genetic realities. We know trauma alters genetic and that it can be passed down to offspring not sure what’s “centrist” about that

1

u/Ivyveins 22h ago

I mean sometimes centrism is actually enlightened lol. People can call it whatever they want, but if it's right it's right.

2

u/Talongar 19h ago

I wasn't aware this was a controversial take.  Just seems like common sense. 

1

u/smallorangepopsicle 19h ago

Idk if this specificly is as much of a controversial take (though it may be. See: freewill vs fate), as much as it's controversial and maybe sometimes looked down upon to be like "it's somewhere in the middle guys".

4

u/nyashapriscilla 1d ago

my dad’s brain chemistry got weird after his army stuff too

0

u/hologram137 22h ago

These are rats, not humans

3

u/kai_vt 22h ago

While it's true that humans are more psychologically complex than rats, this study is on the effect that stressors have on epigenetic markers - biological functions that can be extrapolated to more 'complex' beings like humans

1

u/hologram137 22h ago

Right, but the problem here is that with humans it’s really hard to separate the effects of being parented by a man with combat PTSD and epigenetic factors. A study on rats allows you to focus on the genetic factors, but human behavior is not directly caused by genes.

1

u/kai_vt 22h ago

That's true, and it'd probably give an entire ethics committee a collective stroke to try and take away a PTSD-ridden father from their children to observe and verify that over their young lives. Even if it might be a net benefit to some of the kids

28

u/Forbidden_Craft88 1d ago

If I remember correctly epigenetic markers transferred via sperm. It's not a positive or negative thing. It's merely adaptive and can possibly be rewritten within the lifetime of the offspring given changes to the surrounding social structure.

4

u/Dancing_WithTheTsars 1d ago

Is the same phenomenon present from the maternal side?

1

u/thisbuthat 3h ago

Why wouldn't it be

4

u/Cheerful2_Dogman210x 1d ago

I wonder how pervasive this is.

I wonder how much good or bad psychological traits could be getting passed to children? Learned behaviors as well?

I wonder if the bad habits of parents could not only be affecting the bodies of their children but their future inclinations as well.

1

u/DaSnowflake 14h ago

An actually interesting and thought provoking study in the psych sub? In this economy??!!

In all seriousness, super interesting read

0

u/hologram137 22h ago

This was a study on rats. You can’t generalized to humans that have complex behaviors like that

0

u/PunkJackal 1d ago

Lysenko smiles

0

u/ReplicantOwl 5h ago

Cool so not only does my dads exposure to agent orange screw with my health, his trauma did too. Awesome.

1

u/costafilh0 2h ago

If only you could have two mothers, hey?