What is Epigenetics?

• Your genes give the blueprint for how your body and brain work.
• Epigenetics is about how your environment and experiences can turn genes on or off without changing the DNA itself.
• Think of it like software controlling hardware: the DNA is the hardware, and epigenetics is the software telling it what to do.

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How Stress and Trauma Affect the Brain

1. Chronic stress or abuse can increase levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
   • High cortisol over time changes brain circuits, especially in areas controlling emotion, self-control, and motivation (prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus).
   • This can make a person more reactive, aggressive, or anxious, and less able to plan or regulate impulses.
2. Early childhood trauma can “program” the brain’s reward system to seek instant gratification.
   • Example: a child in a neglectful home learns that helping others or waiting isn’t safe, so the brain prioritizes selfish survival behaviors.
3. Epigenetic markers can literally switch off genes linked to empathy, patience, or impulse control.
   • Over time, this can manifest as greed, meanness, or laziness, because the brain’s natural wiring for social cooperation is dampened.

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Inside-Out Effects

• Outside: Poor hygiene, scruffy appearance, no ambition.
• Inside: Aggression, selfishness, low empathy.
• Both can be traced back to how stress and trauma shaped gene expression and brain development.

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Key Point

Epigenetics explains why some people develop these traits despite having the same genes as others. It’s not just DNA—it’s life experience literally shaping how the brain works.

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