Department of Biological and Experimental Psychology, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
UCL Cancer Institute, University College London, London, UK.
Lancet Psychiatry. 2021 Jul;8(7):620-629. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30515-0. Epub 2021 Apr 27.
There is substantial variation in people's responses to adversity, with a considerable proportion of individuals displaying psychological resilience. Epigenetic mechanisms are hypothesised to be one molecular pathway of how adverse and traumatic events can become biologically embedded and contribute to individual differences in resilience. However, not much is known regarding the role of epigenetics in the development of psychological resilience. In this Review, we propose a new conceptual model for the different functions of epigenetic mechanisms in psychological resilience. The model considers the initial establishment of the epigenome, epigenetic modification due to adverse and protective environments, the role of protective factors in counteracting adverse influences, and genetic moderation of environmentally induced epigenetic modifications. After reviewing empirical evidence for the various components of the model, we identify research that should be prioritised and discuss practical implications of the proposed model for epigenetic research on resilience.
人们对逆境的反应存在很大差异，相当一部分人表现出心理弹性。假设表观遗传机制是逆境和创伤事件如何在生物学上产生影响并导致个体对弹性差异的一种分子途径。然而，关于表观遗传学在心理弹性发展中的作用，我们知之甚少。在这篇综述中，我们提出了一个新的概念模型，用于研究表观遗传机制在心理弹性中的不同功能。该模型考虑了表观基因组的最初建立、由于不利和保护环境引起的表观遗传修饰、保护因素在对抗不利影响中的作用以及环境诱导的表观遗传修饰的遗传调节。在回顾了该模型的各个组成部分的实证证据后，我们确定了应优先考虑的研究，并讨论了该模型对关于弹性的表观遗传研究的实际意义。
