People exposed to trauma—and their children—have different levels of sensitivity to glucocorticoids. In particular, exposure to high levels of cortisol in utero appear to “program” children, resulting in higher risk for developing mental and metabolic disorders later in life. With the genetic and epigenetic revolution came the discovery that many of these people have differences in methylation patterns of the glucocorticoid receptor and other DNA regions (promoter regions) associated with the stress response system.
