Changes in personality after heart transplants have been noted before. Since the transplant beganIn one case, a person who disliked classical music became passionate about it after receiving a musician's heart transplant. The recipient later died. Has a violin case.
In another case, a 45-year-old man The mind of a 17-year-old boyHe loves to put on headphones and listen to music at high volume, something he'd never done before his transplant.
Recent Research Suggest Heart transplant recipients may not be the only ones who experience personality changes; these changes can occur after any organ transplant.
How can we explain this? One theory is that it's a placebo effect, The beginning of a new life Giving to others A brighter personalityOther transplant patients Bouts of guilt and depression others Psychological issues It could even be considered a change in personality.
But there's also some evidence to suggest that these personality changes aren't all psychological: biological factors may also play a role.
The cells of a transplanted organ perform the functions expected of them — heart cells to beat, kidney cells to filter, liver cells to metabolize — but they also play roles in other parts of the body. Many organs and their cells hormone or Signaling Molecules It can be used locally and on other parts of the body.
The organ most closely associated with personality change seems to be the heart. The heart chambers release peptide hormones, including “Atrial natriuretic peptide” and “Brain natriuretic peptide”It acts on the kidneys to help regulate the fluid balance in the body.
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they again, Role in electrolyte balance and Suppress The activity of some parts of our nervous system Fight or flight responseThe cells responsible for this are Hypothalamus – The part of the brain that plays a role in everything from homeostasis (balance of biological systems) to mood.
As a result, donor organs may have different basal levels of hormone and peptide production than the original organ, and may alter the recipient's mood or personality through the substances they release.
Natriuretic peptide levels Higher after transplant – and never goes back to normal. Perhaps some of the bump is a reaction to the trauma of the surgery, but that doesn't explain the whole thing.
Memories stored outside the brain
Stored in the body Memories in the brainWe access them when we think, or we stimulate them through our sense of sight and smell. Memory is fundamentally a neurochemical process Nerves transmit impulses to each other and exchange special chemicals (neurotransmitters) at their interfaces.
Although many of the nerves that control the organ's function are severed during transplant surgery and cannot be reattached, this does not mean that the nerves in the organ do not function. In fact, there is evidence that they may not function. Partially restored One year after surgery.
These neurochemical effects and interactions can be transmitted to the recipient's nervous system and trigger physiological responses that can affect the recipient's personality according to the donor's memories.
Donor cells are known to circulate in the body. The recipient's body and donors DNA is found in the recipient's body Two years after transplantThis again raises the question of where does DNA go and what does it do?
One thing it can do is Stimulates immune responseThese immune responses are important because it is known that prolonged, low-level inflammation can cause personality changes. Changing personality traitsExtroversion, Conscientiousness, etc.
Regardless of what mechanism or combination of mechanisms is responsible, this area of research requires further investigation to help recipients understand the physical and psychological changes that may occur after surgery.
