There's a case cited in that paper which does suggest something similar:
> A report in the lay literature describes the case of Claire Sylvia who reported changes in her personality, preferences, and behaviors following a heart and lung transplant at Yale-New Haven hospital in 1988. Following surgery, Sylvia developed a new taste for green peppers and chicken nuggets, foods she previously disliked. As soon as she was released from the hospital, she promptly headed to a Kentucky Fried Chicken to order chicken nuggets. She later met her donor’s family and inquired about his affinity for green peppers. Their response was, “Are you kidding? He loved them… But what he really loved was chicken nuggets” (p. 184, [9]). Sylvia later discovered that at the time of her donor’s death in a motorcycle accident, a container of chicken nuggets was found under his jacket [9].
I haven't read the whole thing, maybe there's something more relevant as well. That report isn't really about accessing the previous persons "memories" but at least claims she adopted a part of their personality. I'd be skeptical about its accuracy without more such reports, however.
A safer assumption would be that our body influences our behavior and tastes, and in turn they are directly affected by changes in our body, like an organ transplant.
A more interesting question regarding the case above would be "what's in our hearth and lungs that affects our perception of capsaicin?".
So if this were true you'd expect people with spine injuries to forget large parts of their lives? Or what is the mechanism to be able to transfer these memories from organs to the brain?
m4x|13 days ago
> A report in the lay literature describes the case of Claire Sylvia who reported changes in her personality, preferences, and behaviors following a heart and lung transplant at Yale-New Haven hospital in 1988. Following surgery, Sylvia developed a new taste for green peppers and chicken nuggets, foods she previously disliked. As soon as she was released from the hospital, she promptly headed to a Kentucky Fried Chicken to order chicken nuggets. She later met her donor’s family and inquired about his affinity for green peppers. Their response was, “Are you kidding? He loved them… But what he really loved was chicken nuggets” (p. 184, [9]). Sylvia later discovered that at the time of her donor’s death in a motorcycle accident, a container of chicken nuggets was found under his jacket [9].
I haven't read the whole thing, maybe there's something more relevant as well. That report isn't really about accessing the previous persons "memories" but at least claims she adopted a part of their personality. I'd be skeptical about its accuracy without more such reports, however.
easyThrowaway|12 days ago
A more interesting question regarding the case above would be "what's in our hearth and lungs that affects our perception of capsaicin?".
raincole|12 days ago
> In several cases, memories of the old heart’s host seem to become accessible to the recipient
andy_ppp|12 days ago
Ericson2314|13 days ago
ahoka|13 days ago