Does modifying genes hold the key to improving mental health?
Tuesday – 7 Shaaban 1444 AH – 28 February 2023 AD Issue number [
16163]
Epigenetic modification hope for improved mental health (Getty Images)
London: «Asharq Al-Awsat»
Scientific research has revealed that childhood experiences that include trauma are implanted and embedded in our brains, and put us at risk of developing mental illness. Epigenetic modification may offer us hope to get rid of them, according to the British newspaper, The Guardian. The way depression manifested in mice in the lab of Eric Nessler, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, was disturbingly relatable. When the mice were placed in an enclosed space with an unknown mouse, they sat in the corner and didn’t seem to care, and when they were offered a sweet drink, they didn’t seem to notice it. Also, when they were put into the water, they did not swim, but drifted with the current.
These rats had been subjected to “social defeat stress,” meaning that older and larger rats repeatedly asserted their dominance over them; The method was designed to induce depression in mice, but in Nessler’s lab it affected some mice more than others, and these were the ones with a history of trauma early in life. “What one clearly sees in these mouse models is that some of them who were exposed to psychological stress at an early age were more affected by psychological stress later in life,” says Nessler, who works at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York.
This appears to be the case in humans as well, and although the reasons remain unclear, evidence is mounting that part of the answer lies in epigenetics, the processes that modify the function of our genes without altering the genetic code. Many researchers now believe that childhood trauma is biologically embedded in our bodies, changing how our genes work, and putting our mental and psychological health at risk.
And if that argument is correct, it will open the door to completely different new treatment methods. Although a difficult childhood sometimes makes people more resilient and resilient, “trauma that occurs at an early age is the biggest risk factor for a number of psychological conditions, especially depression and anxiety,” says Nessler. One of the largest studies confirming this is a research paper published in 2010 that included data on more than 50,000 adults from 21 countries.
The study discovered that almost all types of trauma that occurred during childhood, whether it was the death of a parent, or the addiction of a family member to a drug, was highly associated with mental illness during adulthood.
