Section outline

  • Lecture: Multi-level etiologies of health in diverse populations, Part 3: Biological determinants, mediators and mechanisms

    One of the most active areas of health disparities research is understanding how social experiences get “under the skin” to influence health. As discussed in previous classes, behavioral factors and clinical care are important mechanisms, but study after study has shown that behaviors and medical care cannot fully explain the magnitude of social inequalities in health. In this class we will review key hypothesized mechanisms via which adverse social experiences change human physiology and have enduring effects on long term health outcomes.  Leading hypotheses include the role of epigenetic changes; dysregulation of stress responses via hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis alterations; and physiologic triggers of behavioral patterns. We will discuss how these biological mechanisms directly relate to lifecourse models for the determinants of adult health. We will also discuss controversial perspectives on the role of genetic differences in creating social and racial inequalities in health.

    Faculty:  Maria Glymour

    Location:      Mission Hall 1400

    • Session Slides:

    • Slides for Biological Mechanisms Lecture File

    • Session Audio/Video Recording (Access restricted to registered students):

    • Required Reading:

    • Gruenewald Seeman AllostaticLoad File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • HertzmannBoyceAnnualReviews File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02
    • Weaver MaternalProgramming Epigenetic NatureNeuroscience File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Resources:

    • Berens Biology File
      Not available unless: Your ID number contains 02

    • Assignment:  

      Please post to the forum by 1pm on the day of class

      Questions Related to Week 4 Readings:

      1. Weaver et al propose that among rats, maternal behavior towards newborn pups influences their cortisol response to stress via epigenetic mechanisms that change the expression of glucocorticoid receptor gene for the rest of the pup’s life.  They argue that because epigenetic patterns are established at specific developmental periods, there is extreme time sensitivity to when the pup is exposed to particular maternal behaviors (licking and grooming, in this case), and maternal behavior before or after that sensitive period window is not as important.   Do you think this mechanism is relevant in humans?  If so, what behaviors are most analogous to “maternal licking and grooming”?  

      2. Gruenewald, in contrast, emphasize the cumulative effects of SES adversity on a multi-system allostatic load measure.   Do you think that the Gruenewald findings are consistent, inconsistent, or unrelated to the Weaver findings?  Explain.  

      3. Hertzmann and Boyce argue that “it is not genes or environment, nor is it genes and environment, but rather it is gene-by-environment interactions that influence developmental trajectories.”  To what extent do you think that GxE interactions can contribute to major disparities along racial/ethnic, socioeconomic, or geographic dimensions?