New personality: unique study reveals strange changes in patients after transplantation

Recent scientific discoveries confirm a new aspect of the relationship between organ transplantation and the change in the character of patients. Participants provided comprehensive information about their feelings and experiences after surgery through an online survey. According to an article published in the scientific journal Transplantology, researchers from the University of Colorado conducted a survey among 47 people who underwent transplantation surgery (23 of whom received a heart and the other 24 received various organs).

The fascinating data indicate that a huge majority, namely 89%, of transplant patients reported changes in personality traits after receiving a new organ.

The study conducted by CU has become one of the most advanced in tracking personal transformations after the transplantation of various organs. According to the Science Alert, there are cases where patients felt more connected to their donors than to their previous selves after heart transplants, discovering new tastes in food, art, sexual preferences, and behavior.

One woman who received a heart transplant from a young musician in the 1990s shared that since then she has developed a strong passion for music that she never had before.

"Before the transplant, I was never musical, but now music has become a part of my life, and I feel it in every cell," she told the researchers.

Recent research at CU University has revealed that our identity and preferences can be encoded in every cell in our body, not just the heart.

Survey participants reported significant changes in their personality traits, including temperament, emotions, food preferences, self-identity, religious and spiritual beliefs, and memories. The only difference between the heart and other organ recipients was the change in physical attributes.

The authors note that the similarity of experience between these two groups of patients confirms that personality changes after heart transplantation are not unique, and similar changes can occur after any organ transplant.

According to an article in The Post last year, blood transfusion recipients also reported changes in mood, behavior, and even memories after the procedure. A study conducted by the University of Michigan in 2013 found that there is a deeply rooted belief that internal human parts have causal relationships that can transmit donor characteristics to the recipient if mixed.

Sarah-Jane Leslie, a professor of philosophy at Princeton University and co-author of the study, said that despite the lack of scientific evidence, people continue to believe in the possibility of changing their personality through transplantation.

Science Alert offers the "systemic memory hypothesis" as an explanation for this phenomenon. According to this hypothesis, all living cells contain memory, which allows the transfer of history from donor to recipient through tissue.

Even though the nerve connections in the transplanted organ are not functioning, there is evidence that they can recover within a year after surgery. The interaction of neurotransmitters, based on the donor's memories, can cause a reaction in the recipient's nervous system that affects his or her personality.

In addition, it was found that the donor's cells continue to circulate in the recipient's body even two years after transplantation. According to Science Alert, it is unclear where exactly these cells end up, but their inflammatory effects may be the cause of personality changes, as the release of DNA from cells causes inflammation, and prolonged low-grade inflammation can change personality traits.

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