Parental brain and socioeconomic epigenetic effects in human development
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Updated: May 17, 2026

Optimized Analysis of DNA Methylation and Gene Expression from Small, Anatomically-defined Areas of the Brain
Published on: July 12, 2012
James E Swain1, Suzanne C Perkins, Carolyn J Dayton
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. jamesswa@med.umich.edu
Abstract:
Critically significant parental effects in behavioral genetics may be partly understood as a consequence of maternal brain structure and function of caregiving systems recently studied in humans as well as rodents. Key parental brain areas regulate emotions, motivation/reward, and decision making, as well as more complex social-cognitive circuits. Additional key environmental factors must include socioeconomic status and paternal brain physiology. These have implications for developmental and evolutionary biology as well as public policy.
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