In this episode of Just Like Nana, host Amie (Elizabeth) Penny Sayler is joined by Dr. Frances Champagne to delve into the world of epigenetics to discover how your environment and experiences shape your brain and behavior. 

This episode explores how understanding these interactive pathways can actually lead to greater resilience and personal agency, regardless of the past. 

About Dr. Champagne

After completing a B.A. in Psychology at Queen’s University (Canada), Dr. Frances Champange delved into the genetic and environmental risk factors in psychopathology at McGill University in the M.Sc. program in Psychiatry. She then started a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at McGill University examining the role of mother-infant interactions in shaping the brain. In 2004, Dr. Champagne received a fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to conduct postdoctoral research at Cambridge University (UK), examining the role of imprinted genes in development and social behavior. From 2006-2017, She was a faculty in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University and established a research group examining the epigenetic influence of early life experiences. Her interests focus on the interplay between genes and environment that shape neural and behavioral outcomes and the implications of this dynamic interplay for inheritance of traits. 

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Research shows that the quality of maternal care doesn't just affect the immediate offspring; it shapes the brain systems of generations to come.
• Beyond pure biology, trauma can be transmitted through family stories and learned behaviors, which eventually become "embodied" in our stress systems and nervous system reactivity.
• Despite the potential for transmitting stress, the most common biological response to adversity is resilience. Because the epigenetic system is designed to be malleable, there is always room for change and intervention.

Resources Mentioned

• Agouti mice: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2822875/
• Överkalix study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24552514/
• Odor study: https://news.emory.edu/stories/2013/12/smell_epigenetics_ressler/index.html

Connect with Dr. Champagne

• University of Texas at Austin Department of Psychology Bio: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/psychology/faculty/fac752 

Connect with the Show

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Theme music by Carter Penny.