Open AccessReckoning the Unresolved Scientific Question on Memory Transfer
Author(s) -
Loh TengHern Tan,
HooiLeng Ser,
Yong Sze Ong,
Kooi Yeong Khaw,
Priyia Pusparajah,
KokGan Chan,
LearnHan Lee,
Bey Hing Goh
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
progress in drug discovery and biomedical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2710-6039
DOI - 10.36877/pddbs.a0000105
Subject(s) - neuroscience , clarity , recall , cognitive science , psychology , transplantation , memory formation , cognitive psychology , hippocampal formation , biology , medicine , biochemistry , surgery
Memory formation occurs within the central nervous system (CNS), specifically in the hippocampal region of brain. The notion that memories are only located within the brain has been challenged by reports of some patients that they have “inherited memories” from their donor after organ transplantation; some even experienced personality changes and picked up hobbies or preferences similar to their donor. Recently, a research team has reignited the embers of this theory by using scientific method to show that memory can be genetically transferred from one sea snail to another. Nevertheless, even as more and more scientific mysteries are being unravelled, memory remains an elusive entity shrouded in the haze of many unresolved hypotheses. To seek clarity on what is currently known, this write-up summarizes and consolidates records associated with the theory of “cellular memory” and experiments evaluating the possibility of memory transference by genetic materials like RNA.