Epigenetics: Behavioral Influences on Gene Function, Part II: Molecular Mechanisms

Differences arise in the emotional, maternal, and cognitive behaviors that result from early maternal influences. The influences on emotional behavior appear to be mediated by reactivity in the hypothalamicpituitary-adrenal axis. Here in the second and last part of a series about behavioral influence on gene function, Ogren and Lombroso describe the molecular mechanisms thought to be responsible for the differences in the adult offspring, as well as the molecular mechanisms by which epigenetic effects are propagated from one generation to the next.