"Chronic aggressive behaviour exhibited by some boys from disadvantaged families may be due to epigenetic changes during pregnancy and early childhood.
"Epigenetic changes possibly related to the prenatal environment
In the first study, published in July, the team found that among men who had chronic aggressive behaviour during childhood and adolescence, blood levels of four biomarkers of inflammation were lower than in men who exhibited average levels of aggressive behaviour in their youth, from 6 to 15 years of age. "This means that using four specific biomarkers of inflammation, called cytokines, we were able to distinguish men with chronic physical aggression histories from those without," says Tremblay, a researcher specializing in developmental psychology. In the second study, it was observed in the same men with aggressive pasts, that the DNA encoding the cytokines showed methylation patterns different from those of the comparison group...."
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-09-chronic-aggressive-behavior-boys-epigenetic.html
Provencal, et al. (2013). "Childhood Chronic Physical Aggression Associates with Adult Cytokine Levels in Plasma." PLOSone. Full text.
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