memory

is there any scientific proof memory exist outside the brain, ie, in bone and muscle tissue?

define 'memory'. If it is something like the airco in your car knows what temperature you wanted last time you drove the car, then memory can be in many places .... even in the brain 😉

Originally posted by eatmybishop
is there any scientific proof memory exist outside the brain, ie, in bone and muscle tissue?

If you by memory is a method of storing and retrieving information?
Then we have DNA.

Originally posted by eatmybishop
is there any scientific proof memory exist outside the brain, ie, in bone and muscle tissue?

Arguably, your hard drive is an extension of your memory, or your phone. Think about it, years ago, before mobile phones, apart from phonebooks, people had to remember the numbers they dialled most often, now I often meet people who don't even know their own number (or maybe that's just an excuse...). As we have the ability to store the numbers on our phones, and access them very easily, we no longer take the time to memorise them in our brain. Arguably, that's memory outside of the brain.

Really memory is just the storage of information for recollection at a later point in time. In our brains it's coded into elctrochemical signals, ion channels and neurons. In the world at large it's stored in books, hard drives, SIM cards, DNA (as previously mentioned) etc.

There's also "muscle memory" in which muscles learn how to do certain motions subconciously. I don't know if that information is stored in the brain or the muscle or ???

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
There's also "muscle memory" in which muscles learn how to do certain motions subconciously. I don't know if that information is stored in the brain or the muscle or ???

In the nervous system outside the muscle.

i dont even have my memory stored inside my brain sometimes

where were we?

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
There's also "muscle memory" in which muscles learn how to do certain motions subconciously. I don't know if that information is stored in the brain or the muscle or ???

yes, that's really what my question was... i read the other day that muscle remembers... they put it to the test as well, a bodybuilder, who had given up training for over 10 years was asked to go back to lifting weight; it was observed that he built up muscle twice as fast as someone who has never trained; their question was how can this be possible? personally, i think a lot of factors come into this, for one, the bodybuilder may have been on a better diet at the time, trained harder etc...

what was more strange was another test that was carried out; someone lifted weight for 12 weeks at the gym but only on one side of the body, they noticed though that the muscle increased on both sides...

i guess my question is can bone and muscle cells work independently, away from the brain, do the cells have the ability to think for themselves, to make decisions, to remember?

Originally posted by eatmybishop
yes, that's really what my question was... i read the other day that muscle remembers... they put it to the test as well, a bodybuilder, who had given up training for over 10 years was asked to go back to lifting weight; it was observed that he built up muscle twice as fast as someone who has never trained; their question was how can this be possible? pe ...[text shortened]... e brain, do the cells have the ability to think for themselves, to make decisions, to remember?

Cells wouldn't, but nerve clusters can. That's basically what the brain is. Some dinosaurs had nerve clusters at the base of their tails to help their tiny brain control that huge body.

Originally posted by eatmybishop
is there any scientific proof memory exist outside the brain, ie, in bone and muscle tissue?

I watched a documentary about whether transplant recipients could have memories of the person the organ came from. It was claimed how people suddenly had cravings for things they have never had before. http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/W/who_gets_the_heart/more.html has more articles from both sides of the argument, for and against memory existing outside the brain.

Originally posted by eatmybishop
what was more strange was another test that was carried out; someone lifted weight for 12 weeks at the gym but only on one side of the body, they noticed though that the muscle increased on both sides...

I read an article in new scientist once about a study where they had three groups:
One group was to do half an hour of pulling a weight with the little finger of their left hand.
One group was to do nothing but think about pulling the weight with the same hand.
The other group were control and were to do nothing. Bummer.
Anyway, the group doiing nothing had no change in the strength of that muscle, the group pulling the weight had an increase in strength in that muscle, the group just thinking about it had a 40% increase in strength compared to group who were actually lifting.
That's my workout.

There is memory outside the brain, brain being the physical cells making up the brain matter.

And it is easy to explain / prove. And in a sense impossible to prove.

The answer lies in retrograde hypnosis that goes back to one's previous life. Re-incarnation for those who believe in it.

So, if you believe in re-incarnation and that people can 'remember' what happened to them in past lives, by means of retro-hypnosis the answer is easy. There is memory outside the brain . (because quite franlkly, the brain in itself decomposes when you're dead)

If you don't, then I guess there isn't a way.

So Problem solved. (sort of)

Originally posted by ysterbaard
Re-incarnation for those who believe in it.

Well, the original question was...
"is there any scientific proof memory [can] exist outside the brain"
(my emphasis)

Originally posted by eatmybishop
is there any scientific proof memory exist outside the brain, ie, in bone and muscle tissue?

I'm not sure there is any scientific proof, but in my opinion it wouldn't be too hard to implant a 256 MB DDR in somebody's buttock.

Originally posted by kbaumen
I'm not sure there is any scientific proof, but in my opinion it wouldn't be too hard to implant a 256 MB DDR in somebody's buttock.

My arse can hold up to 64 hours of songs. I have Brittney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Pink, The Game, and much more. Of course, no one wants to hear it, but I've got it.