DO HEART TRANSPLANTS INCLUDE THE DONOR'S MEMORIES AND PERSONALITY?

People who have had a heart transplants claim to have obtained some of their donors memories. People often show signs of personality change similar to the person who gave them the organ.

In TRANSPLANTING MEMORIES, prominent medical experts attempt to explain why some organ recipients adopt these memories and emotions, also known as "cellular memories". While a handful of scientists are skeptical dismissing this strange phenomena as post-surgery stress or reaction to anti-organ rejection drugs - they are also countered by a growing number of experts who believe cellular memories are indeed transplanted with organs.

Dr Candace Pert, a pharmacologist and professor at Georgetown University believes the mind is not just in the brain, but also throughout the body. This school of thought could explain such strange transplant experiences. "The mind and body communicate with each other through chemicals known as peptides", says Dr Pert. "These peptides are found in the brain as well as in the stomach, muscles and all of our major organs. I believe that memory can be accessed anywhere in the peptide/receptor network. For instance, a memory associated with food may be linked to the pancreas or liver and such associations can be transplanted from one person to another".

Do other parts of the body have the capability to think and have memories as well as the brain?

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Here's some examples of changes that have happened in organ recipients - the phenomenon is thought to happen in about 5-10% of transplant patients:

1. A former professional dancer, in 1988 Claire Sylvie received a heart and lung transplant after suffering from Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. After the operation, she developed a taste for beer, Snickers bars, green peppers and fried chicken, none of which she had liked prior to the operation. She lost her attraction to men, and her daughter noticed that she had developed a masculine demeanour and walk. She began to have dreams of talking to a tall thin man with sandy coloured hair called Tim, whom she felt close to. After investigation through the hospital administration, she discovered that the heart and lung donor was an 18-year-old man named Tim, who had been killed in a motorcycle accident. After contacting his family, she discovered he'd loved beer, Snickers and fried chicken.
2. 63-year-old William Sheridan, from New York, had a heart transplant operation. After recovering from surgery, Mr. Sheridan developed a passion for art. Prior to the transplant, he had neither interest in nor talent for the subject. As his skills blossomed, he discovered that his heart donor was an artist who had spent his life painting.
3. An eight-year-old girl received a heart from a 10-year-old girl who had been murdered. The transplant recipient began to experience vivid dreams about being murdered. The dreams were so vivid, and her explanations so detailed, that the police were able to arrest and convict the murderer purely upon her evidence.
4. A young man came out of transplant surgery saying, “Everything is copacetic”. His mother said that he had never used the word before. After his transplant, he used the phrase all the time. It was subsequently discovered that the donor and his wife used the word. It was a private signal between them: after an argument, the word meant that it was time for them to make up. The donor's wife reported that the couple had had an argument before the accident, and had not yet made up when her husband died.
5. An 18-year-old boy who wrote songs and poetry was killed in a car accident. A year after he died, his parents discovered an audiotape of a song entitled “Danny, My Heart is Yours,” which was about the fact that he was destined to die and give his heart to another. The family discovered that the donated heart recipient was called Danielle. The family contacted Danielle and played her the song. Despite having never heard it before, she was able to sing along.
6. A 29-year-old lesbian, who was a fast food junkie, received a heart from a 19-year-old “man crazy” vegetarian woman. After her operation, she found that she could no longer eat meat, as it made her sick. More strikingly, her sexual orientation completely changed and she became engaged to a man.
7. A seven-month-old baby received a heart from a 16-month-old boy who had drowned. The donor had a mild form of cerebral palsy, mostly on the left side of his body. The recipient, who did not display such symptoms prior to the transplant, developed the same stiffness and shaking on the left side of his body as the donor.
8. Australian girl Demi-Lee Brennan underwent a liver transplant. It was found after the operation that Demi's blood type had changed to that of the donor, from O- to O+. Medical staff also discovered that her immune system had been almost totally replaced by that of the donor.
9. Cheryl Johnson from Preston, UK, underwent a liver transplant. She had read trashy novels all her life, but after surgery felt compelled to read the classics of such authors as Dostoevsky, and felt that both her personality and intellect had changed considerably following the transplant.
10. In an truly unusual case, Sonny Graham, after receiving a new heart, tracked down the donor's family and instantly fell in love with the donor's widow and married her. 12 years later, having shown no signs of unhappiness or depression, Sonny shot himself without warning. Sonny's donor shot himself under uncannily similar circumstances.
11. Lynda Gammons from Lincolnshire, UK, donated one of her kidneys to her husband Ian. Since the operation, Ian has developed a love of baking, cleaning, shopping and gardening. Prior to the transplant, he loathed all forms of housework.
12. A 56-year-old college professor received a heart from a 36-year-old police officer. The officer was shot in the face whilst attempting to arrest an unkempt, unshaven drug dealer. After the transplant, the professor was plagued with dreams in which he saw the face of Jesus, followed by a bright flash of light. He would then feel an intense painful burning sensation in his face. When he reported the visions, the professor had no prior knowledge of the donor or how he had died.

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