

Memory in the Flesh: Can memories survive outside the brain? - RyanCooley
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/18/8225321/memory-research-flatworm-cannibalism-james-mcconnell-michael-levin

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leroy_masochist
Somewhat related to this topic: doing 10 sessions of intensive rolfing therapy
years ago not only helped correct some musculoskeletal issues I had; it also
coincided with a significant dropoff in recurring Iraq-related dreams (I had
previously served in OIF).

Most of my musculoskeletal stuff was directly attributable to carrying 100+
lbs of kit up and down the street, up and down stairs, and over 2-meter walls,
4-12 hours a day.

Maybe there's no correlation and it was just a placebo-type thing and/or my
mind playing tricks on me, but I'm inclined to think that the improvement in
longstanding tissue-related issues that were caused by deploying also
ameliorated some of the psychological residue of that experience.

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dhimes
I had never heard of this.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolfing](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolfing)

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jackweirdy
“There is no evidence Rolfing is effective for the treatment of any health
condition”

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thirdtruck
Now I want to do a comparative study between that and joke-induced ROFLing.
Then, a follow-up study on the gluteal benefits of ROFLMAOing.

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bitwize
Is it Woo Wednesday on Hacker News?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_memory)

Come on.

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strathmeyer
"Hey, I wonder if this is about the guy who ground up flatworms. Wow, he's
still doing bad science??" We learned about him in our psychology research
methods courses. So we were literally taught something is incorrect that is
apparently still practiced in the field.

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coldtea
Probably missed the whole content of TFA, which is that his experiments were
redone now, with possitive results...

It's not like it's impossible to be taught BS (e.g. that "something us
incorrect") and it later to be proven true after all...

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bitwize
Looks like you missed the contents of the Wikipedia article, which explains
that unless hormones count as "memories", the flatworm experiments did not
mean what McConnell thought they meant.

~~~
coldtea
Probably missed TFA entirely. This is not about what McConnell thought, nor is
the Wikipedia version the state of the art of that research.

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shakil
From a religious perspective, Muslims believe in parts other than the brain
also retaining a memory of their deeds and bearing independent witness on the
day of judgement. Quran Sura 41, v18-20

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secstate
Man, science journalism is so hit or miss. While I appreciate the exposure
that articles like this give interesting ideas, there's something so
hilariously unscientific about the presentation.

For my money, I'd question whether it's worth comparing an organism that can
_regenerate it 's brain_ against any vertebrate that cannot.

