storytimewithjoe | Memory Cells

Recently, I got into a discussion with a couple of friends about memory. Memory is such a funny thing, and we really don’t have much control over it. You may very well remember some stupid little poem that you were forced to write or memorize back in grade-school. But can you remember where you left your keys this morning as you are desperately trying to dash out the door? Then we have cloudy memories. When asked to recall an event that happened some time ago, the story sometimes tends to change – perhaps it is because you are a storyteller in the classic southern-sense, adding some embellishment to make the story sound more interesting – or perhaps it is because that truly is how your memory begins to morph – sort of like making yourself a bigger, stronger, more popular jock than you really were back in your glory-days.

Without a doubt, memory is one of the single most important things when it comes to our functionality. Yet, even with all the advancements of modern science and medicine, we really don’t understand it all that well. Ask any doctor who specializes in Alzheimer patients – we can study it. We may have some idea of what is happening. But when it comes down to it, we really have barely scratched the surface to figure out how the gray-matter in our head works and how we manage to store memories.

Then again, who said that only the brain is involved in storing memories?

We really don’t know what a “memory” is. Any auto-mechanic will tell you that metal has a memory. What that means is that if you “ding” the side of your car, that ding will stay there until the metal rusts away – it won’t simply pop out on its own, once it is dinged. A potter knows this, too. Greenware should never be bumped. What may seem like a harmless little bump may shock the clay in such a way that, once in the kiln, it will split or crack or explode.

But what about in the body of a living thing? Is a memory a stored series of electrical impulses, similar to the virtual switches in a computer? Is it a chemical thing? What actually IS it that creates a memory in the human body? Some people believe that the brain may very well be the organ that controls and stores most or all memories. But what about the cells? Is it possible that memories are actually stored in other parts of the body – at least in some primitive sort of way? Without memory, no living thing would know what to do to live. Obviously, single-celled organisms out there are able to live – and they do so without brains. They move. They reproduce. They digest. How? Obviously there is something in the cell that has enough memory to allow such things to happen.

In my personal experience, I believe that there may be some merit the idea of cellular memory. I base this upon some of my yoga practice. At various times, I have been working on an intense stretch and felt a pop. Following said pop, I felt the sensation of a warm viscous liquid travelling from the area of the pop over my entire body. And this has typically been followed by some physical reaction – often I have convulsed in a minor way. Tears have fallen. My breathing has quickened. And the episode has always been followed by an incredible sense of relief – as if some huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. It really is hard to describe other than to say that when I have these experiences, it feels like I have been given some sense of closure in my life. It may sound like some yogi-spiritual-mumbo-jumbo, but I know what I have felt and I can tell you that it is very real. Some people theorize that what has happened is that I am storing some sort of mental trauma somewhere else in my body. And that what is happening to me is that I am releasing that memory and trauma that I have kept buried away. I do not know for certain if that is what actually is happening. But I will say that it certainly does feel that way – and I’ll welcome those experiences whenever they happen!

Now here’s something else to think about. Let’s say that someday science does indeed determine that memories are indeed stored in cells. Who is to say that all of those memories are simply yours? After all, your DNA is not simply yours – it is the DNA of your ancestors. And just as your genetic make-up is passed down through the generations, who is to say that the memories of your ancestors is not also passed down? What they currently call “junk DNA” – perhaps that really consists of your great grand-mothers’ recipes? Maybe it is the jubilant sense of relief at surviving the trip on one of the ships arriving at Ellis Island? Maybe it is memories of wars from centuries ago? If memories do manage to live in the cellular level, might we someday be able to backtrack memories through the genetic coding of our own bodies? If so, what might we learn? Might a modern descendent of Plato or Homer be able to extrapolate further upon their teachings, or maybe even write-down the lost writings of a bygone age? What lost ancient wisdom might we actually have coded within our very own human programming? And what would happen if we could simply tap into it? Imagine being the child of a brilliant doctor – you could, perhaps, begin performing complex surgeries just as soon as your muscle-development allows you to hold a scalpel.

“We dined at nine. We dined at eight!
I was on time. No, you were late.
Ah yes… I remember it well.”