Our brain is a large network of neurons connected with each other.Our daily experiences change how our neurons are connected.Some experiences create better connections between two neurons A and B and worse connections betweens neurons A and C.When someone makes children of his own ,does the experiences in the life of the parent influence the behavior of his child for example if the parent has experienced some very traumatic situations will the child be more distant or less sociable?
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Children inherit DNA from their parents, which in turn was inherited by their parents from their grandparents, and so on. Only modifications to the DNA in the germ-line cells (those producing eggs and sperm) are heritable; changes in brain cells are not heritable, because those do not involve the DNA of the eggs and sperm.
Everything else that influences a child is environmental. The nature-nurture debate involves discussion of how much genetics versus experience influences development of different traits and characteristics.
Part of the difficulty in measuring the relative contribution of genes and environment is that parents are often important contributors to the environment as well as genetics of their children. Environment starts in the womb, so some of the mother's behaviors and experiences can influence the developing fetus. After birth, a child will continue to be influenced by their environment. Their parents' presence or absence will be part of this environment.
A child will only be influenced by traumatic experiences of their parents to the degree that those experiences influence the parent's behavior around the child.
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$\begingroup$ Do you feel that scientists who seem to have demonstrated generational epigenic modification are in error? E.g. mice and cherry blossoms. $\endgroup$ Sep 5 at 19:08
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1$\begingroup$ @anongoodnurse You'll note the article you link has quite a bit of skepticism, too; I certainly believe epigenetic inheritance exists, but this is really just an extension of the genome beyond nucleotide sequence. The examples given like famine in the Netherlands involve exposure to a stressed maternal environment. $\endgroup$– Bryan Krause ♦Sep 5 at 19:26
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$\begingroup$ I agree there is uncertainty (I wouldn't say there was quite a bit), but the evidence is compelling; in vitro fertilization still produced mice who, without ever meeting their parents, were afraid of the scent. "A child will only be influenced by traumatic experiences of their parents to the degree that those experiences influence the parent's behavior around the child." this statement does not support generational epigenetic modification... $\endgroup$ Sep 6 at 2:21
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$\begingroup$ ... In that respect, the child may well behave differently "if the parent has experienced some very traumatic situations..." I don't say it's highly likely, but it's not impossible. $\endgroup$ Sep 6 at 2:25