Post Heart Transplant Changes

In 2019 the National Institute of Health (NIH) released the abstract of a study report related to personality changes post heart transplants and the role of cellular memory. According to the abstract, four categories of personality changes were reviewed: (1) changes in preferences, (2) alterations in emotions/temperament, (3) modifications of identity, and (4) memories from the donor's life. The acquisition of donor personality characteristics by recipients following heart transplantation is hypothesized to occur via the transfer of cellular memory for which at least four types may exist: (1) epigenetic memory, (2) DNA memory, (3) RNA memory, and (4) protein memory. This suggests that transmission of cellular memory may happen in more than one way—and it happens. By the way, I hope your friend makes a complete recovery and does very well—potentially with an expanded memory due to someone’s kindness in donating their heart.