X-Message-Number: 21517 Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2003 23:35:51 -0700 From: Blackshark <> Subject: Re: head only or full body? References: <> I have a concern of Alcor's head only suspension over a whole body suspension as scientists are agreeing that one's consciousness is not limited to the brain but also the spinal cord, the whole nervous system, and even every cell in your body. Note the following true story: Professors' study says more than the mind can remember After the first successful heart and lung transplant in New England, the patient who received the organs was asked by a reporter what she was looking forward to most about her new chance at life. "I can't wait to have a beer," said a surprised Claire Sylvia, who had spent most of her life as a dancer. Six weeks after her transplant, while driving for the first time since the operation, she experienced an uncontrollable urge to drive to Kentucky Fried Chicken, a place she had never been to before, and order chicken nuggets. Sylvia later discovered that the 18-year-old donor of her new organs had loved to drink beer and at the time of his death, chicken nuggets were found in the coat pocket of his leather jacket. While some may dismiss her abrupt preference changes as an unusual coincidence or side-effect of the immunosuppressant drugs, two University of Arizona psychologists have offered a controversial hypothesis as a possible explanation to this and other phenomena found in such areas as homeopathy, aromatherapy and parapsychology. Gary Schwartz, a professor of psychology, neurology and psychiatry and director of the Human Energy Systems Laboratory, and colleague Linda Russek, co-director of the laboratory and a research associate in the Psychology Department, suggest that memory, in the form of information and energy, was stored by the donor's organs and caused a reaction by Sylvia's body that retrieved the implicit information. The psychologists are presenting papers on the subject today at the Alternative Therapies Symposium in Orlando, Fla. "I think this is going to be embraced by most of the people in the alternative medicine community because it builds a bridge between the best of respectable science and contrary ancient approaches to health and healing," Schwartz said. Their systemic memory hypothesis is also being featured in the May issue of Alternative Therapy's in Health and Medicine. Schwartz said their hypothesis suggests that all dynamical systems, described as systems in which there is a constant interaction and exchange, store information and sustain memory. Science has only accepted the process of memory storage in the nervous and immune systems, he said. Previous scientific studies have concluded that brain activity operates as a continual feedback loop. Russek and Schwartz's hypothesis has taken this concept a step further and claims that recurrent feedback interactions not only occur between neurons in the body's neural networks, but also occur within all cells and molecules. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21517