Introduction:
Since almost 50 years ago, there have been reports of recipients taking on the personalities of their donors, resulting in personality changes after heart transplantation.
Personality changes after a heart transplant have not been thoroughly studied or comprehended.
Due to low survival rates, early enthusiasm for heart transplantation decreased in the 1970s, but improvements in diagnostics, immunosuppressant drugs, and patient selection criteria rekindled interest in the subject.
Patients who have received heart transplants have reported favorable changes like exhilaration, enhanced cognitive function, and greater social and sexual integration. But troubling aftereffects, such as psychosocial issues and mental anguish, have also been noted.
According to the conventional neuroscientific theory, memory is a brain-not-heart activity, making the transfer of memory between donor and recipient quite improbable. However, modern studies on cellular memory indicate that this viewpoint must be revised.
The sources included cover the background of heart transplantation, the alleged personality changes after a transplant, and the conventional understanding of memory as a brain function.
Possible Mechanisms for These Experiences
Personality changes following heart transplantation are hypothesized to occur through the transfer of cellular memory, including epigenetic memory, DNA memory, RNA memory, and protein memory.
Exosomes, which facilitate intercellular communication, may play a role in the transfer of proteins and other molecules between cells, including prions that have been found to be highly expressed in exosomes. Further research is needed to investigate the role of prions and other proteins in the formation and storage of long-term memory, as well as the possible transfer of such memories via exosome-encapsulated proteins between donor and recipient following heart transplantation.
The epigenome, through chemical and structural alterations of chromatin or short strands of RNA, stores information as a type of cellular memory known as epigenetic memory. This information can persist and be passed down to future generations through transgenerational epigenetic inheritance.
Note: The provided sources discuss the hypothesized mechanisms of personality changes following heart transplantation, including the transfer of cellular memory and the role of exosomes and the epigenome.
Conclusion:
Personality changes following heart transplantation, including the acquisition of donor personality characteristics by recipients, have been reported for decades. These changes can manifest in preferences, emotions/temperament, identity modifications, and memories from the donor's life.
The transfer of cellular memory is hypothesized to be the mechanism behind these personality changes, with four types of cellular memory proposed: epigenetic memory, DNA memory, RNA memory, and protein memory. Other possibilities, such as intracardiac neurological memory and energetic memory, are also discussed.
Emotional changes following heart transplantation can include specific emotions attributed to the donor and alterations in recipients' temperament or emotional reactivity to stimuli.
The experiences of heart transplant recipients, such as feeling a sense of communication with their new heart and developing aversions or fears related to the donor's experiences, suggest a potential connection between the donor's personality and the recipient's post-transplant experiences.
For further reference read the below research Article with Impact factor 4.411
Liester M. B. (2020). Personality changes following heart transplantation: The role of cellular memory. Medical hypotheses, 135, 109468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2019.109468
Interesting fact..!