May 2, 2024
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In this episode, Wendy speaks with neuroscientist and trauma researcher Brian Dias. Brian is one of the pioneers in understanding how trauma can be transferred between generations. Research in this space has helped fuel a major revolution in biology, because it means that not just our genes, but some aspects of our experiences can be inherited. This conversation covers many topics, including:
- his path into studying trauma;
- how trauma can pass through generations;
- links with the Buddhist concept of karma;
- understanding epigenetics & the interplay between genes and environment;
- implications for inheritance and evolution;
- whether such intergenerational transmission is helpful or harmful;
- epigenetic clocks in our cells;
- how trauma affects brain development;
- sociocultural, developmental, and biological pathways for transmission of experiences;
- creating legacies of flourishing;
- lessons learned from collaborating with Tibetan monastics;
- providing resources to parents to try to halt legacies of trauma;
- impacts of stress on our mitochondria and microbiome;
- and scientists as humans first.
Brian Dias’ research seeks to understand how mammalian neurobiology, physiology and reproductive biology is impacted by stress or trauma, and how parental legacies of stress or trauma influence offspring. Armed with this understanding, Brian and his team aim to devise therapeutic interventions to ameliorate the effects of stress or trauma in both, ancestral and descendant populations. Toward this goal, he uses molecular, cellular, genetic, epigenetic, physiological, and behavioral approaches to investigate how the biology of an organism and its responsiveness to stress or trauma is influenced by micro-environments (genome, epigenome and hormones) and macro-environments (ancestral, in utero and post-natal experiences).
In addition to his research, Brian is interested in scientific innovation and education. He has participated in the Sci-Foo Camp, an invitation-only ideas festival held at Google, and is a faculty member of the Emory Tibet Science Initiative, where he teaches neuroscience to Tibetan Buddhist monastics. He has also participated in a panel discussion about consciousness with scholars that included the Dalai Lama.
Resources
Faculty page at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
- TEDx Talk: Halting Legacies of Trauma
- News article (BBC): Can the legacy of trauma be passed down the generations?
- Paper: Reversing behavioral, neuroanatomical, and germline influences of intergenerational stress. Biological Psychiatry, 2019.
- Paper: Fostering respectful and productive conversations: lessons learned from debating courtyards in Tibetan Buddhist monasteries. Frontiers in Communication, 2021.