A father's experience, good or bad, will be inherited by his children and even grandchildren. For example, if dad was drowning, then his son will be terrified of water. And so was his son's son. If it burned, it will be afraid of fire. Starved - will be prone to gluttony.
The womanizer's dad's son, most likely, will also become eager for women. And it will pass this feature on. Likewise, future generations will have the addictions of spending time in the garage, hunting, fishing, playing football with friends. Or love for certain foods.
In other words, offspring can inherit something acquired by previous generations. In fact, inherit the memory of certain events. Fantastic? Not at all. That such a phenomenon exists has been proven by biologists from Emory University (Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University).
Kerry Ressler and Brian Dias conducted an amazing experiment, which they described in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They connected electrical wires to the floor of the room where the male mice were. The current was switched on periodically. The mice got hurt and ran away.
The scientists accompanied the electric shocks to the paws of mice with the smell of bird cherry - they sprayed acetophenone, the main component of this smell. After repeated - complex - the impact of the animals ceased to torment with electricity. Only doused with smell. Smelling acetophenone, the mice shuddered, jumped and ran away from the "terrible" bird cherry.
The most interesting thing started at the next stage. From the mice participating in the experiment, offspring were born that were not beaten by current and did not smell bird cherry. than this has not been encountered. When the offspring grew up a little, scientists gave him a sniff of the very acetophenone. The mice reacted exactly like their fathers. That is, they shuddered, jumped and ran away. Although they were not shocked.
Further - from the second generation of mice, which inherited the fear of bird cherry, the following was born. And this smell frightened him. Scientists suggest that the memory of ancestors is preserved by great-grandchildren. And great-great-grandchildren. Haven't tested it yet.
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Something with my memory has become
It would be reasonable to assume that the male mice, beaten by electric current and frightened by bird cherry, somehow - even mysteriously - pass on their experience to the mice in the process of communication. Learn to be afraid. But no. Several series of experiments involved mice that were conceived in a test tube. And they never met their biological fathers. But they too were afraid of acetophenone, as if they were expecting an electric shock.
There is no explanation for the phenomenon yet. There is only a hypothesis that the mechanisms of epigenetics are involved in the transfer of experience. And they are included depending on the degree of methylation of certain DNA fragments. And this, in turn, leads to the fact that the structure of neurons in some parts of the brain changes. Their new configuration provides one or another reaction to the events taking place.
It appears that the degree of methylation is transmitted through the semen. That is, in the male line. And thus it is inherited, contributing to the appearance in the brain of structures required for the realization of the experience of ancestors.
The phenomenon of déjà vu can be explained by the memory of ancestors
Are any acquired traits inherited from mothers and grandmothers? Scientists have not yet conducted such experiments. But it is suspected that the nature of such an option was not provided. Although … Who knows, maybe the female's body becomes a temporary container for the "experience" obtained with the sperm of the male. And she - the mother - still participates in the process.
Colleagues of Ressler and Diaz believe that by revealing the mechanism of transferring the memory of ancestors, it will be possible to understand the nature of the appearance of phobias and anxiety states in people.
Another thing is not excluded. The fact that mysterious phenomena of the psyche are associated with the phenomenon. For example, cases when people suddenly start speaking in other languages. Play completely unfamiliar musical instruments. Or talk about events that happened a long time ago and very far away. Does the memory of ancestors make itself felt so? What if it can explain déjà vu? When it seems to a person that what is happening to him now has already happened … And the so-called call of the ancestors? When is it tempting to do something wild? Could it be methylation here too?
REFERENCE
DNA methylation is the attachment of a methyl group consisting of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms (CH3) to a DNA molecule. The DNA sequence does not change as a result. However, the process affects the work of genes - the so-called expression of genes. Some are turned off, and some are turned on. Thus, the body regulates the sequence and duration of their work.
Methyl groups can be attached or detached. Accordingly, gene expression either increases or decreases.