Genetic Memories & Transfer

[Kaere]

I do find this very interesting, although this is more 'physical reaction' memory rather than in your mind memory.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-25156510

Behaviour can be affected by events in previous generations which have been passed on through a form of genetic memory, animal studies suggest.

Experiments showed that a traumatic event could affect the DNA in sperm and alter the brains and behaviour of subsequent generations.

A Nature Neuroscience study shows mice trained to avoid a smell passed their aversion on to their "grandchildren".

Experts said the results were important for phobia and anxiety research.

The animals were trained to fear a smell similar to cherry blossom.

The team at the Emory University School of Medicine, in the US, then looked at what was happening inside the sperm.

They showed a section of DNA responsible for sensitivity to the cherry blossom scent was made more active in the mice's sperm.

Both the mice's offspring, and their offspring, were "extremely sensitive" to cherry blossom and would avoid the scent, despite never having experienced it in their lives.

Changes in brain structure were also found.

"The experiences of a parent, even before conceiving, markedly influence both structure and function in the nervous system of subsequent generations," the report concluded.

The findings provide evidence of "transgenerational epigenetic inheritance" - that the environment can affect an individual's genetics, which can in turn be passed on.

One of the researchers Dr Brian Dias told the BBC: "This might be one mechanism that descendants show imprints of their ancestor.

"There is absolutely no doubt that what happens to the sperm and egg will affect subsequent generations."

Prof Marcus Pembrey, from University College London, said the findings were "highly relevant to phobias, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders" and provided "compelling evidence" that a form of memory could be passed between generations.

He commented: "It is high time public health researchers took human transgenerational responses seriously.

"I suspect we will not understand the rise in neuropsychiatric disorders or obesity, diabetes and metabolic disruptions generally without taking a multigenerational approach."

In the smell-aversion study, is it thought that either some of the odour ends up in the bloodstream which affected sperm production or that a signal from the brain was sent to the sperm to alter DNA.

[Kaere]

The above article speaks about physical memories passed from generation to generation. This article speaks of physical memories passed from donor to recipient. This is what I find truly fascinating... nature vs nurture and all that. I have a friend who had bone cancer and received a bone marrow transplant from his brother. He and his family all noticed that he began to take on the physical and some personality traits of his brother.

http://www.medicaldaily.com/can-organ-transplant-change-recipients-personality-cell-memory-theory-affirms-yes-247498

Organ donors may be doing more than just saving lives. They may be giving a 'new life' to organ transplant recipients. According to Donate Life America's 2011 statistics, there were 8,127 deceased organ donors and 6,017 living organ donors in the United States, adding up to 28,535 organ transplants overall. The most common organ transplants include the cornea, kidney, and heart — with a heart transplant ranking the highest in five-year post-transplant survival rate of 74.9 percent. The heart ultimately stores memories through combinatorial coding by nerve cells, which allows the sensory system to recognize smells, according to cellular memory theory.

The cell memory phenomenon, while still not considered 100 percent scientifically-validated, is still supported by several scientists and physicians. The behaviors and emotions acquired by the recipient from the original donor are due to the combinatorial memories stored in the neurons of the organ donated. Heart transplants are said to be the most susceptible to cell memory where organ transplant recipients experienced a change of heart. In a study published in the journal of Quality of Life Research, researchers interviewed 47 patients who received a heart transplant over a period of two years in Vienna, Austria. Researchers found that 79 percent of patients did not feel that their personality changed post-surgery, 15 percent experienced a change in personality due to the life-threatening event, and six percent did confirm a drastic change in their personality due to their new heart. While the percentage of personality changes as a result of an organ transplant hints to be insignificant, further research has been done to validate the existence of this concept.

At the School of Nursing at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, researchers sought to evaluate whether changes experienced by organ transplant recipients were parallel to the history of the donor. Researchers focused on 10 patients who received a heart transplant and found two to five parallels per patient post-surgery in relation to their donor's history. The parallels that were observed in the study were changes in food, music, art, sexual, recreational, and career preferences in addition to name associations and sensory experiences. In the study, a patient received a heart transplant from a man who was killed by gunshot to the face, and the organ recipient then reported to have dreams of seeing hot flashes of light directly on his face.

Aside from scientific studies, there have been several real-life cases that support the cell memory theory. Claire Sylvia, a heart transplant recipient who received the organ from an 18-year-old male that died in a motorcycle accident, reported having a craving for beer and chicken nuggets after the surgery. The heart transplant recipient also began to have reoccurring dreams about a man named 'Tim L.' Upon searching the obituaries, Sylvia found out her donor's name was Tim and that he loved all of the food that she craved, according to her book A Change of Heart.

In a recent case of possible cell memory, Australian girl Demi-Lee Brennan's blood group was changed after receiving a liver transplant from her donor, reports the AFP. Nine months after the initial transplant, doctors discovered that Brennan had changed blood types and she acquired the immune system of the donor due to the stem cells of her new liver transferring over to her bone marrow. "In effect she had had a bone marrow transplant. The majority of her immune system had also switched over to that of the donor," Michael Stormon, a hepatologist who treated Brennan at the Children's Hospital at Westmead, reported to the AFP.

An organ donor usually remains anonymous as the hospital opts to not disclose this information to the recipient family. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, only health care providers are allowed to share protected health information of organ donors for treatment purposes to prevent inappropriate use or disclosure.

[Agartha]

Even thought it is not recognized as such, I do believe in 'genetic memory'. Can we call 'instinct' ' genetic memory' instead? How does a baby know he has to suck a nipple to feed? (for example).

I remember  this study about savants: how do you explain their skills? One of them started playing the piano at 3 like a professional and didn't even had any lessons. Another painted masterpieces also without training.

There have been plenty of experiments that have shown that certain behaviours and 'memories' are passed down between generations in animals. Can this be the same with humans? Maybe 'past live memories' are really 'ancestral memories'?

[Kaere]

Hmmm, no I don't think "genetic memory" and "instinct" are quite the same thing. Genetic memory may be something like... my grandmother went through a time of starvation and so I might be heavy set because the genetic material passed down is now set to work in a famine situation.

I think the savants thing could be explained as a genetic memory only if one of their ancestors who contributed to their recent genes (say, great-great-grandparent at the most) was accomplished at those same gifts. If not, then I'm more inclined to lean towards those being either examples of reincarnation or extraordinary brain physiology.

(Incidentally, I do not believe we ever reincarnate into the same family line)

Your last statement about animals made me consider the idea of the collective consciousness, like bees or horses... perhaps we are more collective than we'd like to think :smile: (I tend to believe that we are all the same, like drops in an ocean... if an ocean contains all knowledge, then we'd have access to it, even if it isn't within our drop selves).

I have a feeling ancestral memories and past life memories may be existing in parallel rather than one or the other.

[Agartha]

Genetic memory as what DNA we inherit is what you explained, I agree with that: the environment made changes to our ancestors which we get.

But when I meant instinct I meant behaviour, not physical traits. For example babies: how do they know they have to suckle to feed? We can call it instinct, but what is instinct? It is a behaviour, but how are we born with certain behaviours?

An instinct is something we don't have to learn, by instinct babies cry for communication and feed,for example. What about fears? Why are we scared of mice, spiders and snakes when we have never had any personal experiences with them?

That's the type of ancestral memory I was referring to.

[Kaere]

I think we're talking about two different things and giving them the same name lol... it's all good. Fun topic

[Agartha]

I think we're talking about two different things and giving them the same name lol... it's all good. Fun topic

lol

So...... no stand up comedy or science conventions for you and me then...
hahaha

[Kaere]

Hehe... I dunno, maybe things need shaking up a bit!

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