Changes in personality after heart transplantation have received considerable attention. After the transplant started. In one case, a person who hated classical music developed a passion for the genre after receiving the musician's heart. the recipient has since died have a violin case.
In another case, a 45-year-old man said: 17 year old boy's heartHe loves wearing headphones and listening to loud music, something he had never done before the transplant.
recent research It suggests that Heart transplant recipients may not be the only ones who experience personality changes. These changes can occur after transplantation of any organ.
What could explain this? One suggestion is that this is a placebo effect; new lease of life give to someone cheerful personality. Other transplant recipients suffer from symptoms such as: Attacks of guilt and depression others psychological problems It may also be seen as a change in personality.
However, there is some evidence to suggest that these personality changes are not all psychological. Biology may also play a role.
Cells in transplanted organs perform their expected functions, such as heart cells beating, kidney cells filtering, and liver cells metabolizing, but they also have roles elsewhere in the body. Many organs and their cells release hormone or signal transduction molecules Affects locally and elsewhere in the body.
Mind seems to be most commonly associated with changes in personality. The chamber releases peptide hormones including: “Atrial natriuretic peptide” and “Brain natriuretic peptide”which helps regulate the balance of fluids in the body by affecting the kidneys.
They also Role in electrolyte balance and impede in our nervous system, fight or flight response. The cells responsible for this are hypothalamus – The part of the brain that plays a role in everything from homeostasis (balancing biological systems) to mood.
The donor organ therefore has a different base level of hormone and peptide production than the source organ, and can alter the recipient's mood and personality through the substances released.
Natriuretic peptide levels are Higher after transplantation – and will never go back. Some of the increase is probably a response to the trauma of the surgery, but that doesn't explain everything.
memories stored outside the brain
What the body stores memory in the brain. We access them when we think, but they can also be triggered by sight or smell. but Memory is fundamentally a neurochemical process Nerves transmit impulses to each other and exchange special chemicals (neurotransmitters) at their interfaces.
During transplant surgery, many of the nerves that control an organ's function are severed and cannot be reconnected, but this does not mean that the nerves within the organ will not function. In fact, there is evidence that they may be. partially restored One year after surgery.
These neurochemical effects and interactions can affect the recipient's nervous system, cause physiological responses, and influence the recipient's personality according to memories from the donor.
We know that cells from the donor circulate throughout the body. recipient's body and the donor DNA found in recipient's body 2 years after transplantation. This again raises the question of where the DNA goes and what it does.
One of the things it does is; stimulates immune response. These immune responses may be sufficient to cause personality changes, as it is known that long-term, low-level inflammation can cause personality changes. change personality traitsextraversion and conscientiousness.
Regardless of which mechanism, or combination of mechanisms, is responsible, further investigation is needed in this area of research to help recipients understand the physical and psychological changes that may occur following surgery.
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