Bianca Jones Marlin, PhD

The Marlin Lab investigates the relationship between the innate and the learned. We study transgenerational epigenetic inheritance (TEI), or how trauma in parents affects the brain structure and sensory experience of their future offspring. Utilizing molecular genetics, behavior, and neural imaging, we aim to understand the transfer of information inherent in the neurons of the parent, through the gamete, to neurons of their offspring. Implicit in our study is that the categorical distinction between innate and learned behaviors may be fundamentally flexible. Thus, a learned behavior in the parent can essentially become an innate behavior in the offspring. Elucidating the mechanisms through which learning and emotion in one generation are transmitted not culturally, but rather biologically, will have profound implications in societal health and mental well-being