• drunkenninja
    +2

    A spike of cortisol can help us through a tough situation. But having too much cortisol for too long can short-circuit our physiology pretty quickly. So having a blunted cortisol response to stress was the twin's epigenetic reaction to be being bullied. In other words, the twin's epigenome changed in response in order to protect them from too much sustained cortisol. This compromise is a beneficial epigenetic adaptation in these children that helps them survive persistent bullying. The implications of this are nothing short of staggering.

    Damn, so the body adapts to present stress situations and then changes for the future anticipating additional stressful situations.