Can trauma be inherited through epigenetic changes?

The answer

Epigenetic inheritance of trauma involves chemical modifications to DNA - primarily methylation - that alter gene expression without changing the genetic code itself. A groundbreaking 2014 study at Mount Sinai found that Holocaust survivors' children showed altered cortisol and methylation patterns in the FKBP5 stress-response gene. In mice, researchers at Emory University demonstrated that fear conditioning to a cherry blossom scent produced hypersensitivity in offspring and grandoffspring who had never encountered the odor, with enlarged olfactory receptors for that specific chemical. A 2024 study confirmed similar epigenetic signatures in children of famine survivors in the Dutch Hunger Winter (1944-45), showing altered metabolism three generations later.