I was given a young man's heart - and started craving beer and Kentucky Fried Chicken. [transplant]

Daily Mail ^ | April 9, 2008 | Claire Sylvia

[slightlyovertaxed]

In fact (sorry for the double post), the more I read the article, the more I think that the woman “deliberately” took on the characteristics that she thought an 18 year old man should have: cravings for junk food, an exaggerated sense of masculinity, and so on. Since she knew about her donor almost immediately, I feel that this is at best a messy demonstration of so-called cellular memory and instead a testament to the power of suggestion.

[CalvaryJohn]

If she was anything like my ex-wife, she wouldn’t have to actually murder them.

[Centurion2000]

Could be. I read elsewhere, about a year ago, that there is a school of thought that some thinking processes happen OUTSIDE THE BRAIN, in all different parts of your body

Women have known this about men for centuries.

[LucyT]

Thanks. Good point, and very possible. Apparently no one knows for sure.

There's a hypothesis called Cellular memory stating such things as memories, habits, interests, and tastes may somehow be stored in all the cells of human bodies, i.e. not only in the brain. This notion arose after a number of organ transplants were reported to have developed new habits or memories.

[slightlyovertaxed]

Right, but how many were cases of exactly what I described before: someone learning about her donor and then manifesting stereotypical results.

What should be done is a so-called blind study: give the recipient an unknown donor and then watch the recipient's behavior for a few months. Don't tell the recipient about the gender, age, manner of death, nothing about the donor. Then, after observing the behavior for a period of time, tell the recipient about the donor. Dollars to donuts, the behavior will magically change to match that of the donor.

I'm defending my PhD in neuroscience in 3 weeks. Cellular memory is a great idea, but good-old-fashioned suggestibility and the placebo effect explain this phenomenon just as well.

[xjcsa]

To discount the surgery and medicine as possible causes for any changes in traits is poor hypothesis formation.

So is discounting all other theories as impossible.

[LucyT]

Check freepmail for a question...

[ApplegateRanch]

When a heart, kidney, or finger is transplanted, the traits do not follow.

Oh, come now! I seen documentary after documentary, ever since about 1955, of people being the recipients of the hand or heart of a murderer, and turning into involuntary serial killers.

You usually still find them around late at night, especially on weekends.

The Crypt Keeper & Elvira (either of them still around hosting these science programs?) ran some of them several times a year.

[Paved Paradise]

Maybe. I’ll be the first to admit I know very little about this.

[mysterio]

That isn’t something pulled out of thin air.

Correlation does not always equal causation.

[mysterio]

Sure, personality traits can be and are compartmentalized. In the brain. Your toe doesn’t have a personality. If it is transplanted onto another human, it won’t cause that human to pick a stool like the one you like.

[RightWhale]

If a complete brain transplant is performed, the personality characteristics would be transferred

I saw that movie. The lab assistant broke the good brain jar and substituted the bad brain and the surgeon never figured out what was wrong.

[mysterio]

So is discounting all other theories as impossible.

If that hypothesis is outlandish enough to disregard everything we know about the brain and personality and established and peer reviewed study for an idea that sounds kind of neat, it is likely to be discounted. But feel free to prove me wrong. Write a grant, do experiments that give you data that supports your hypothesis, and publish that data in a respectable peer reviewed journal. I'll read your data and come back to this thread and rescind my outright dismissal of the hypothesis.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>The guy hungering for KFC and beer should be glad he wasn’t gifted a pig’s heart...

Think of the money he could make hunting truffles...

[slightlyovertaxed]

Did and sent a response. :)

[LucyT]

Got it! Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Interesting observations to be considered.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

There are “brain” cells in your heart and your stomach. This is one reason we have “heartache” over a profound loss or “gut” feelings. Seriously. How they are connected to the other parts of the CNS is unknown.

I have seen this described in several books, but the following is the one I have on my bookshelf (note: the physiology is only briefly discussed as part of a larger thesis):

Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society (Hardcover)
by Peter M. Senge (Author), C. Otto Scharmer (Author), Joseph Jaworski (Author), Betty Sue Flowers (Author)

[G Larry]

Perhaps you should read the story before inserting your dogmatism.

[mysterio]

Perhaps you should study personality and the human brain before coming to a conclusion.