3 ms·

The old vision (brain = neurons => memories, rest of the body = organs which execute single or multiple functions, synchronized by the brain) is slowly fading a

by jojo2000 7y ago

The old vision (brain = neurons => memories, rest of the body = organs which execute single or multiple functions, synchronized by the brain) is slowly fading away. We have a lot of active neurons in the digestive system, which is in fact a second brain. Same can be said for the heart which contains an autonomous neuronal system to control the cardiac function independently if need be. Notions of distributed systems apply : redundancy, parallelism, coordinated autonomous systems, synchronization. So why wouldn't memory storage be distributed too ? Why wouldn't some memories stored in organs be retained after transplantation ?

pvaldes 7y ago
The idea has some merit, but lots and lot of trasplants are done each year since decades. Nobody has exit the hospital suddenly turning on a pianist or an expert plumber after a hand transplant. And nobody suddenly forgot the knowledge to do some specialized thing, or recognize a beloved one, after losing an arm or a leg. The kentucky fried thing (assuming that is a true history and not a fake new) could have a few simpler explanations like doctors talking about the donor in the pre or postoperatory phase while the patient was half-awake
- jojo2000 7y ago
  Indeed, regarding the KFC case, there are a lot of possible explanations, because the evidence doesn't allow to elaborate a certain conclusion. Regarding inherited memories, this isn't common case, nevertheless it happened in the case of transplants [0] [1] [0] https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2016/10/15/organ-transplants-a-change-of-heart-in-more-ways-than-one/ https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2016/10/15... [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987719307145 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03069...
ranDOMscripts 7y ago
This is colloquially referred to as having a "gut feeling".

pvaldes 7y ago

The idea has some merit, but lots and lot of trasplants are done each year since decades. Nobody has exit the hospital suddenly turning on a pianist or an expert plumber after a hand transplant. And nobody suddenly forgot the knowledge to do some specialized thing, or recognize a beloved one, after losing an arm or a leg. The kentucky fried thing (assuming that is a true history and not a fake new) could have a few simpler explanations like doctors talking about the donor in the pre or postoperatory phase while the patient was half-awake

jojo2000 7y ago
Indeed, regarding the KFC case, there are a lot of possible explanations, because the evidence doesn't allow to elaborate a certain conclusion. Regarding inherited memories, this isn't common case, nevertheless it happened in the case of transplants [0] [1] [0] https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2016/10/15/organ-transplants-a-change-of-heart-in-more-ways-than-one/ https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2016/10/15... [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0306987719307145 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03069...

ranDOMscripts 7y ago

This is colloquially referred to as having a "gut feeling".