Feb 11
3
Epigenetics and Attachment
My children like to read a magazine called Muse. Honestly, I love this magazine too–although I don’t always agree with their perspective. There are fascinating stories of scientific discoveries and interesting tidbits about history. It is the type of publication you sit down to read and an hour later you look up with a start, not having intended to sit there so long!
Anyway, I was reading it the other night and found an article about epigenetics. To REALLY simplify it, epigenes are genes that sit on top of genes and can be turned on or off by things that happen in the person’s environment. I found it interesting in light of attachment issues because one thing they highlighted was an epigene for anxiety.
They said rats whose mothers didn’t lick them dry after birth had an epigene turned on that made them nervous in their temperment and more likely to be aggressive. Rats whose mothers did lick them dry had calm temperments and were less aggressive. In terms of adopted children, many of whom have been neglected as babies and toddlers, it makes sense that they would be inclined to have nervousness or aggression issues in light of this information.
I was fascinated by this discovery and thought I would share it with all you adoptive parents out there. Understanding as much about our kids as possible helps us to arm ourselves with the tools we need to be better parents.
