Do Our Organs Have Memories?

Num7

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Do Our Organs Have Memories?

I stumbled upon this article today which talks about organ recipients somehow having memories of some events that happened to the organ's donor. We learn in school that memories are stored in the brain, but I'd not be quite surprised to know that some memories might be stored in other parts of the body, like this article suggests.

Here are some interesting parts of the article:
Glenda lost her husband, David, in a car crash. She made his organs available for transplant. A few years later, as part of a study by neuropsychologist Paul Pearsall, she met the young Spanish-speaking man who had received her late husband’s heart. Filled with emotion, Glenda asked if she could lay her hand on his chest. “I love you, David,” she said. “Everything’s copa cetic.”

The young man’s mother, also present, was startled. “My son uses that word now,” she said. “He never said it before his heart transplant. I don’t know that word; it doesn’t exist in Spanish. But it was the first thing he said after the operation.”

Her son appeared to have changed in other ways too. Before, he had been a health-conscious vegetarian; now he craved meat and greasy food. He had loved heavy metal music; now he played nothing but fifties rock ’n’ roll. Glenda’s husband had been an ardent meat-lover and played in a rock ’n’ roll band.
An 8-year-old girl received the heart of a 10-year-old girl who had been murdered. The recipient ended up at a psychiatrist’s office, plagued by nightmares about her donor’s murderer. She said she knew who the man was. After a few sessions, the psychiatrist decided to notify the police. Following the girl’s instructions, they tracked down the murderer. The man was convicted on evidence she had provided the first clues about: the time, the weapon, the place, the clothes he wore, what his victim told him. Everything the girl said turned out to be true.
The complete article can be read here: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/do-our-organs-have-memories.html?&page=2
 

Harte

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Re: Do Our Organs Have Memories?

I can't say about everyone else, but my organ certainly remembers better days!

Harte
 

StarLord

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Re: Do Our Organs Have Memories?

I can't say about everyone else, but my organ certainly remembers better days!

Harte
You need to say a few Hail Mary's and some Our whatevers thanking the responsible parties that you have something that can remember anything.
Smart money says you may want to Google Guinness World Records and go through their Geriatric section.
 

StarLord

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Re: Do Our Organs Have Memories?

That's a very good question and one that bears further study.

Some memories have a mind of their own. Which, when you think about it is their own built in safeguard. And yours also.
Never question the fact that you can't remember something the next morning, like finding an ancient cave.
 

Num7

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Re: Do Our Organs Have Memories?

How do you guys feel about organ donations ? If you knew your organs actually had memories, could it affect the way you see organ donations, and/or make you change side ?
 

Harte

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Re: Do Our Organs Have Memories?

It would make me more convinced to donate.

I figure if one of my kidneys is running around remembering my life, that beats the alternative.

Harte
 

StarLord

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Re: Do Our Organs Have Memories?

What's the alternative, being incontinent?

Scientifically speaking, All organs have cells in them. Not much of a brainer there right? It gets better.
Each and every cell in our body carries the complete blue print for the entire body.
DNA.
What happens when you have cells from a donor organ that have all the markers for specific maladies and diseases? Will the host body read the DNA from those cells and change the predisposition it was created with?
 

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