You and I are no more than the descendants of those who survived.
Lluís Quintana-Murci
Human genomics and evolution
Collège de France, Institut Pasteur, CNRS
OUR CELLS HAVE A MEMORY
Impact of trauma and inter- and trans-generational adaptation mechanisms
A great deal of information is transmitted through our epigenome.
Highlighting inter-generational transmissions is therefore important for understanding the biological reactions of our brain and body.
Beyond the biological aspect, our condition may also have been induced by adaptation mechanisms. By exploring these dynamics, we can identify these patterns, become aware of their impact, re-establish our rightful place in a system (family, professional), come to terms with our history and open up to new inner resources and greater freedom of choice.
DISTINCTION BETWEEN INTERGENERATIONAL AND TRANSGENERATIONAL
Intergenerational refers to the direct biological transmission (in utero) of the effects of exposure to a stressor, the impacts of which manifest themselves from one generation to the next.
From the very first moments of your biological existence - long before you were even conceived - you were already linked to your mother's and grandmother's bodies. Indeed, when your grandmother was pregnant with your mother, she was still a five-month-old foetus, already carrying in her ovaries the oocytes that would later give birth to your life. At that time, you, your mother and your grandmother shared the same cellular environment.
Three generations coexisted biologically (grandparents → parents → children).
So direct exposure to a stressor in this biological chain directly impacts the offspring.
Transgenerational could also refer to direct biological transmission, but over longer generations (beyond the three generations mentioned above). However, as this is not confirmed by science, we prefer to define transgenerational heritage here as referring, beyond direct biological inheritance, to an invisible passing on of emotional, psychological or behavioral patterns from one generation to the next, often unconsciously, such as invisible loyalties.
This is the adaptive response of descendants to a traumatic event, unspoken or known to an ascendant. A significant event can upset the equilibrium of a system: each individual is then led, consciously or unconsciously, to change role or behavior in order to preserve this equilibrium. This raises the question of how reactionary behavior in the face of a traumatic event by an ascendant forces descendants to adapt in order to maintain the balance, and how this will weigh on some of them.
For example, a grandparent who has experienced a traumatic event may adopt defense strategies, such as isolation, to cope with it. These reactionary behaviors, observed/experienced/subjected to by their children, can have an impact on the latter, who may develop adaptive behaviors, interpretations (rejection, abandonment) and so-called limiting beliefs, thus modifying their behavior towards their children. And so on down the generations, influencing the way members relate to each other, even if the original reasons remain unknown.
In this way, several generations can be linked by emotional legacies and unconscious patterns, often without the individuals being aware of it.
While the former benefits from significant scientific studies, the latter is more complex to study at the epigenome level.
