How much of what is you is actually you? How much has been passed on to you and from how many generations back? Could it be that genetic memory is a real thing causing our subconscious to make us react in ways that protect us from what one of our ancestors may have learned the hard way to avoid at all costs?
Neuroscientific research on mice suggests that some experiences can influence subsequent generations. In a study, mice trained to fear a specific smell passed on their trained aversion to their descendants, which were then extremely sensitive and fearful of the same smell, even though they had never encountered it, nor been trained to fear it.
Changes in brain structure were also found. The researchers concluded that “[t]he experiences of a parent, even before conceiving, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations”.