Hi everyone, we've corrected the assignment for next week's homework, so they now focus on biological mechanisms and correspond with the readings. Please give it a try.
I look forward to reading your responses!
Maria
- 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. Provide a brief proposal for a study that would allow you to assess whether epigenetic modifications in humans in response to maternal behavior influence subsequent health of the human (feel free to choose any health or behavioral outcome you think you can do this with, e.g., dementia or depression or smoking). Bonus if you can explain how you would approach this if we assume that the relevant epigenetic changes are tissue specific and occur in the brain.
3. Gruenewald, in contrast to Weaver, emphasizes 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.
4. 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?