Transgenerational epigenetic inheritance modulating brain function, behaviour and cognition

The study of how environmental exposures and experiences affect sperm RNA and DNA as well as behavioural, cognitive and other phenotypes is still in its infancy. In particular, the growing prevalence of some brain disorders implicates environmental factors (as genomes evolve very slowly), and these could be acting at least partly via epigenetic inheritance, including both the maternal and paternal lineages.

The period of adolescence, the transition time from childhood to adulthood, is a critical phase for the developing organism. During this time, substantial remodelling of the brain occurs in response to hormonal and physical changes. Hence, the brain is particularly sensitive to external influences, including environmental exposures that alter experience. These paternal exposures can lead to alterations in sperm non-coding RNA levels and DNA methylation. Although there are recent indications from our lab and others that paternal environmental exposures  can epigenetically affect some aspects of the offspring phenotype, the mechanisms are unclear.