Do Our Organs Have Memories?

[Confederate Kahanist]

They do give an explanation though it still seems bogus:


http://www.care2.com/greenliving/do-our-organs-have-memories.html

[Rubystars]

I call BS. This is nothing but anecdotal evidence.

[Moshe92]

That's impossible and absurd.

[New Yorker]

That's impossible and absurd.

Why impossible? Our memories get stored within the nerves of our brains, who says it stops there, wherever there's nerves there's potential for memory storage.

[Rubystars]

That's impossible and absurd.

Why impossible? Our memories get stored within the nerves of our brains, who says it stops there, wherever there's nerves there's potential for memory storage.

Two issues are here, and I think both are equally important. First of all there is no evidence of memory being stored in organs except anecdotal stories which really mean very little. Second, there is a real danger that people will be frightened of getting a donated organ because of stories like this. We already have enough people dying unecessarily and stupidly because they refuse to take blood transfusions. Refusing an organ donation is even more of a death sentece.

[Raulmarrio2000]

Many times, I have written or menatlly said entire paragraphs of books I had never read before, and I haven't received any organ or blood. I just don't know what to say. A moreh once explained that, since we are all descendants of Adam, were are somehow interconnected. Perhaps, an organ would only stregnthen a preexistent link...

[White Israelite]

article sounds bogus although I will say my mothers husbands brother had a liver transplant and the medication they gave him to prevent rejection caused him to definitely act like a different person doing stupid things he used to never do before.

[Ari Ben-Canaan]

I will never allow another person's organs to be put in my body. 

I will never allow my organs to be put in another body. 

Aside from being nauseating, I had an Orthodox Jew biology teacher in high school who instilled the idea that I will need those same organs when we are all resurrected one day.

To me, my organs... to you, yours... and never shall the twain meet.  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes; and only He knows why.

[Masha]

A very close friend of the family lived for quite a long time with a transplanted heart. It is true that organs have memory - believe it or not. He spoke of the same experience - his tastes and attachments changed after his operation. This is something that happened a long time ago. I have been aware of this for a while. This is a fact known among doctors who work with organ transplants.

This leads me to a question. I myself don't want to have my organs transplanted after my death. But my mother and children want to donate. I said to them that if it were up to me (and I don't know if it is), I would disregard/override their will and testament and not allow to have organs taken from their bodies. My question is this: would it be moral to disregard the last wishes of my family members regarding organ transplants if I think this is wrong. And another thing. My mother said to me that she wants to be cremated. I said I am categorically against cremation and I will not respect this request. What do you all think about it?

[Cato]

They do give an explanation though it still seems bogus:

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/do-our-organs-have-memories.html

Thanks for the post, it's fascinating. Who knows..

[Dr. Dan]

Bogus. If by "memory" you are referring to conscious perceptions like the menory of my brain, that's impossible. The nerves which store actual memory are a specialized group of nerves that involve a pathway of other specialized nerves. Memory involves nerves primarily find in the hippocampus and amygdala and get distributed in other parts of the cerebrum. The more those storage parts are used the tighter the nerve connections become. And the stronger the emotion from the amygdala when a memory is created the more likely it will be remembered.

Muscles have "memory" too, but a different kind. If you do the same exact work out everyday it gets easier. Why?  Because your muscles get used to being stretched and stressed in the same directions. That's why body trainers change the work out to change the memory of the muscle so u have a better work out and get something out of it. However, muscles are not conscious like our brains.

Organs have no concious thoughts.  The donated kidney in one person might cause him to make urine like the previous owner, but it would be ridiculous to imply that the whole personality of that person will switch to the previous owner of that kidney like he is possessed like a ghost. Sorry that is black voodoo religion. I strongly recommend that nobody here teach that nonsense to your kids. You'll mess them.

[Muck DeFuslims]

No, our organs do not have conscious memories.

However, it's hard to dismiss every story and anectodal bit of evidence contained in the article as 'bogus'.

I remember hearing about an interesting experiment done with mice. One control group of mice is placed in a maze and must negotiate their way through the maze to reach a piece of cheese. Naturally, after a while this group of mice becomes adept at traveling through the maze and reaching the cheese, even when the course of the maze is altered.

Another control group of mice isn't given any experience in the maze.

The two control groups are kept separated from each other. They are allowed to breed only with members of their own control group. The offspring from each control group are kept separated from each other.

Now it is time to test the offspring from each group to see how quickly they can go through the maze and reach the cheese.

The mice that have been parented by those with experience in the maze are more proficient at working their way through the maze than the offspring of the mice without maze experience.

Do the baby mice have a conscious memory of how to negotiate the maze imparted to them through their parents ?  No, of course not. Is it possible that the parent's experience in the maze becomes ingrained and is passed on as 'instinct' to their progeny? What is the mechanism involved ?

There's certainly alot about the way our minds work that we do not fully understand.

[Rubystars]

I will never allow another person's organs to be put in my body. 

I will never allow my organs to be put in another body. 

So you would willingly commit suicide or deny life to someone else? Do you know how people suffer and die waiting for a heart?

Aside from being nauseating, I had an Orthodox Jew biology teacher in high school who instilled the idea that I will need those same organs when we are all resurrected one day.

So let me get this straight. If you have an amputation, you'll be an amputee in the next world? I don't think so. Ask Chaim about it. Sometimes an organ or part of an organ has to be removed to save someone's life.

To me, my organs... to you, yours... and never shall the twain meet.  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes; and only He knows why.

If you had a son or daughter and the only person who was a good match was you, would you deny them a piece of liver or a kidney and watch your child die?

[angryChineseKahanist]

Very interesting. I don't know about memories but perhaps instinct or reflexes.
A heart will continue to beat long after a person's head is cut off. It has its own set of instructions.
Take the arm of a baseball player. It is not possible for him to think and instruct his arm and fingers to contract to grab the ball the instant it hits his palm. His hand has to be trained to do this on its own. So I would say that his palm and fingers have simple "memory" circuits built in.

[✡ Hindu Zionist ॐ]

the transplanted patient has now become remotely controlled avatar of the deceased donar's soul, some food for thought for James to start working on sequel of Avatar.

[Rubystars]

the transplanted patient has now become remotely controlled avatar of the deceased donar's soul, some food for thought for James to start working on sequel of Avatar.

I hope there won't be a sequel. It reminds me too much of how Disney does their sequels. They come out with a high quality, feature film. Then they come out with a 2nd rate or 3rd rate sequel. Then they make a painful-to-watch, badly drawn cartoon series with 3rd rate voice acting. Sure, it brings in the money, but it's sad to see them murder their own movies like that. If the sequels/series were higher quality I might not feel that way.

I just can't see how an Avatar sequel could be any good though. I mean the story was pretty much complete at the end of the movie.