Headline : What medical history can teach us about reports of personality changes after organ transplants

Read more from the original article on here at theconversation.com.

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From vegetarians craving meat to changes in sexual preference, some organ transplant patients report changes to their personality reflecting those of the organ donor. A 2024 study claims to challenge “conventional views of memory and identity” by suggesting organs carry memories and emotions and that the findings raise “ethical and philosophical questions” about transplantation.

In medical history, though, both are already familiar themes. Physician J. Andrew Armour argued that the heart holds memories and feelings in 1991. Nor is there anything new about suggesting organ transplants raise ethical and philosophical questions – they’ve been controversial since their inception in the 1950s.

The study’s authors do not engage with the cultural histories of organ donation, or its ethnic, religious and historical contexts. Without an understanding of these, research – and media coverage – can perpetuate Frankenstein-style horror myths about transplantation, already an emotive and ethical minefield.

For decades, researchers have studied whether memories and emotions could linger in the heart, and histories of medicine and emotion show why the question is important. It is the heart, the centre of the self – valued in all cultures from ancient Egyptians’ heart weighing to present-day Valentine’s Day cards – that speaks emotional truths.

Read more from the original article on here at theconversation.com.

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