Proud of Erin for the expansive knowledge it takes to concisely write a review on the current and past research in the field of genomic imprinting and social behavior.  The review consolidates the evidence that imprinted genes influence social behaviors across major neurodevelopment stages in humans and mouse animal models that include parent–infant interactions, juvenile sociability, and adult aggression, dominance, and sexual behavior.  We hope this review will inspire further studies that discover how parents can epigenetically shape the genomic architecture of their offsprings’ genomes to regulate brain development and behavior!

Description: Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic phenomenon in mammals that affects brain development and behavior. Imprinting involves the regulation of allelic expression for some genes in offspring that depends on whether alleles are inherited from mothers compared to fathers, and is thought to provide parental control over offspring social behavior phenotypes. Imprinted gene expression is prevalent in the mammalian brain, and human imprinted gene mutations are associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodivergent social behavior in Prader-Willi Syndrome, Angelman Syndrome, and autism. Here, we provide a review of the evidence that imprinted genes influence social behaviors across major neurodevelopmental stages in humans and mouse animal models that include parent–infant interactions, juvenile sociability, and adult aggression, dominance, and sexual behavior.

Plain Summary: We get two copies of every gene, one from our mom and one from our dad. Usually, both copies are used. However, some genes in mammals only use one of those copies–either the one from mom or the one from dad–while the other one is turned off and not used. These are called imprinted genes, and they are controlled by a process called epigenetics that determines when and wherein the body a gene is used. When a copy of a gene is turned off, the function of the gene can become more susceptible to mutation changes or mistakes in the used copy. This raises questions about why these unique genes exist. This review shares findings that suggest many imprinted genes help regulate social behaviors throughout life. Generally, the genes that come from dad tend to be linked to caring for offspring and social interactions, while those inherited from mom often have the opposite effect.

Publication Link:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17501911.2025.2491294

The Bonthuis lab is honored to collaborate and work with UIUC Professors David Zhao (Statistics), Howard Gritton (Comparative Biosciences), Yuri Vlasov (Electrical and Computing Engineering), Sergei Maslow (Center for AI Modeling), Brad Sutton (Bioengineering), Jozien Goenseand (psychology and bioengineering) Georgia Tech Professor Saurabh Sin (biomedical engineering) on investigating what biological mechanisms underlie resilience to severe trauma compared to the prevalence of mental illness.  Observations suggests that most individuals who are exposed to high levels of stress and trauma are able to avoid serious mental illness.

We will be working on the first grant that has been awarded to the Kellner Center for Neurogenomics, Behavior, and Society, which is housed in the GNDP research theme at the Carl R Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. The Center is dedicated to studying the connection between our genes, brains, and behavior—and how that impacts our communities.

Using a multidisciplinary approach that combines animal behavior, brain imaging, electrophysiology, and gene expression experiments with machine learning and statistical modeling, our team plans to characterize mechanisms in the brain that could underlie the biological basis of resiliency.

The Bonthuis lab was awarded the NSF Collaborative Research in Computational Neuroscience (CRCNS): Multimodal network interactions for internal state dynamics of resiliency for Innovative Approaches to Science and Engineering Research on Brain Function ($1,210,000).

AWARD NUMBER: 1R01AT013189-01