What is cellular memory?

Emotions and beliefs are stored not only in our subconscious but also in our cells. For 2,000 years, the concept of cellular memory has been an essential part of traditional Chinese medicine. Recently, cellular memory has also received greater recognition in allopathic medicine and Western science. The role of cellular memory was studied in heart-transplant recipients. In several documented cases, patients experienced puzzling changes in their tastes, preferences, behaviors, emotions, and habits after waking up from surgery; the new traits turned out to be distinctive characteristics of the organ donors. Strikingly, none of the recipients knew anything about the donors prior to noticing changes in themselves, which suggests that those traits were remembered and encoded by the cells of the transplanted organs.

The exact means by which cells store emotions and memories are still unknown. Some evidence suggests that the behavior and identity of a cell is to a large extent determined by the interactions between neurotransmitters and cell receptors, specialized proteins in the cell membrane. Neurotransmitters function as messengers between the nervous system and the rest of our body and are released by neurons and some glands, such as the adrenals and the pituitary gland. Fear and anxiety, for example, cause the secretion of stress hormones, a special group of neurotransmitters that includes adrenalin, noradrenalin, and cortisol, into the bloodstream from where they are able to reach most cells in our bodies. As they bind to specific membrane receptors like keys fitting into their corresponding locks, they initiate distinctive responses and chemical changes within the cells.