What Is Activated Cellular Memory?

The term "cellular memory" relates to a hypothesis concerning the body's proposed ability to store information outside of the brain. Activated cellular memory, therefore, refers to a person's hypothetical ability to recall and act upon that information. While there is much anecdotal evidence for the existence and efficacy of cellular memory, it remains unsubstantiated by empirical evidence.

Proposed Method of Action

• No coherent method for the activation of cellular memory has been successfully proposed as of time of publication. There is a body of research which attests to the fact that some organs, such as the heart, have self-contained nervous systems that allow them to self-regulate. One tenet of cellular memory theory is that these miniature networks may have the ability to hold information. However, this hypothesis is unsubstantiated.

Anecdotal Evidence

• There is some anecdotal evidence attesting to the validity of the cellular memory hypothesis. A typical anecdote may involve a previously tone-deaf patient quickly mastering an instrument after receiving an organ donated by an accomplished musician. Supporters of the cellular memory theory argue that the necessary information was somehow woven into the donated tissue for subsequent absorption by the organ's recipient. No mechanisms by which such a transfer could take place have been proposed or discovered at time of publication.

Criticism

• One criticism cellular memory hypothesis is that it is unfalsifiable, as there is no way to devise a laboratory test to establish what a patient knew before receiving an organ transplant. A patient who testifies to a marked improvement in musical ability immediately subsequent to the transplantation of an organ from a concert pianist may simply have been unaware of the true extent of his musical ability prior to the operation. There is also no way to exclude the possibility that he may simply be lying for the purposes of receiving attention. A second criticism is that proponents of activated cellular memory have not proposed a biological mechanism by which memories can be stored outside of the brain. A third common criticism is that so-called "received memories" are generally very subjective and are far more likely to be examples of false memory syndrome than anything else.

False Memory Syndrome

• Anecdotes pertaining to the existence and efficacy of cellular memory may be examples of false memory syndrome. False memory syndrome is a condition in which a person's identity is affected by memories which are, unbeknownst to the patient, factually inaccurate. Human memory is highly malleable and affected by outside influences. This can lead to the creation of false beliefs that a person inaccurately categorizes as memories. If the creation of such false memories follows a traumatic event such as an organ transplant, the patient may misattribute these new "memories" to the acquisition of the new organ.