Learning by heart - Yeah Pseudoscience!

This I guess has been around for a long time - but I only heard about it yesterday (while drinking at a bar of course). A number of people have noticed that after getting transplants that their personality changes - and not only that- their personality changes to reflect the donors personality.

And though she was born and raised in Tucson, she never liked Mexican food. She craved Italian and was a pasta junkie. But three years ago, all that changed for Jaime Sherman, 28, when she underwent a heart transplant at University Medical Center, after battling a heart defect since birth. "Now I love football, baseball, basketball. You name it, I follow it," said Sherman, a psychology student at Arizona State University. "And Mexican food is by far my favorite."

There is the 8-year-old girl who got the heart of a 10-year-old murder victim, according to medical reports. Plagued by nightmares of the crime after her transplant, the girl used the images in her dreams to help locate and convict her donor's killer.

That's when she learned 29-year-old Scott Phillips - who died of a head injury after a fight at a Phoenix bar - was a sports fan who loved Mexican food. He played on several teams at Kansas State University and followed college and pro sports. Sherman's metamorphosis from nonfan to superfan occurred well before she knew anything about her donor, though her obsession with Kansas State began after she met his family.

These stories go on and on - but what really gets me is the absolutely insane explanations as to why this is happening.

Perhaps most controversial is the theory of "cellular memory" or "systemic memory" - the idea that cells, or even atoms and molecules, contain the living being's memory and energy, which are transferred in a donated organ. Proposed by University of Arizona psychologists - who also have studied near-death experiences and spiritual mediums - the theory was developed after studying 10 heart transplant patients who reported donor-related changes, including a male UMC patient who got a woman's heart, and soon was bothered by his new preference for the color pink and desire to wear perfumes. "What happens to these patients is not just a personality change, but a targeted personality change," said Dr. Gary Schwartz, a psychology professor and director of UA's Human Energy Systems Laboratory.

I also remember hearing in this conversation (though I dont see it here) that the reason this happens is that there is an "excess" of neurons attached to the heart that get taken along with it when it goes into the new body. HAHAHA! I love this stuff! Perhaps if you eat a brain you can get the memories of the dead!