Provençal Nadine, Booij Linda, Tremblay Richard E
Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich 80804, Germany
Ste-Justine Hospital Research Center, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada Department of Psychology and Psychiatry, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada Department of Psychiatry, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 1A1, Canada.
J Exp Biol. 2015 Jan 1;218(Pt 1):123-33. doi: 10.1242/jeb.111401.
Longitudinal epidemiological studies with birth cohorts have shown that physical aggression in humans does not appear suddenly in adolescence as commonly thought. In fact, physically aggressive behaviour is observed as early as 12 months after birth, its frequency peaks around 2-4 years of age and decreases in frequency until early adulthood. However, a minority of children (3-7%) maintain a high frequency of physical aggression from childhood to adolescence and develop serious social adjustment problems during adulthood. Genetic factors and early social experiences, as well as their interaction, have been shown to play an important role in the development of chronic aggressive behaviour. However, the biological mechanisms underlying these associations are just beginning to be uncovered. Recent evidence suggests that epigenetic mechanisms are responsive to adverse environments and could be involved in the development of chronic aggression. Using both gene candidate and genomic approaches, recent studies have identified epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation alterations in genes involved in the stress response and the serotonin and immune systems to be partly responsible for the long-lasting effects of early adversity. Further longitudinal studies with biological, environmental and behavioural assessments from birth onwards are needed to elucidate the sequence of events that leads to these long-lasting epigenetic marks associated with early adversity and aggression.
对出生队列进行的纵向流行病学研究表明，人类的身体攻击行为并非如通常所认为的那样在青春期突然出现。事实上，早在出生后12个月就可观察到身体攻击行为，其频率在2至4岁左右达到峰值，随后频率逐渐下降，直至成年早期。然而，少数儿童（3%至7%）从童年到青春期一直保持较高的身体攻击频率，并在成年期出现严重的社会适应问题。遗传因素、早期社会经历及其相互作用，已被证明在慢性攻击行为的发展中起着重要作用。然而，这些关联背后的生物学机制才刚刚开始被揭示。最近的证据表明，表观遗传机制对不良环境有反应，并可能参与慢性攻击行为的发展。利用基因候选和基因组方法，最近的研究已经确定了表观遗传标记，如参与应激反应、血清素和免疫系统的基因中的DNA甲基化改变，部分地导致了早期逆境的长期影响。需要从出生起就进行生物、环境和行为评估的进一步纵向研究，以阐明导致这些与早期逆境和攻击行为相关的长期表观遗传标记的事件顺序。
