Getting memories by eating those who already have them

While writing an article about emotions as sensory percepts about the state of magnetic body I learned about extremely interesting findings. I have already earlier written about some of the finding that both pieces of split planaria have the memories (identified as learned skills or conditionings) of the original planaria (see this). The news at this time was that planaria get the memories of planaria that they have eaten!

To begin with, one must carefully distinguish between genuine memories and memories as behavioral patterns) (conditionings, skills).

1. Cognitive memories as behavioral patterns are assumed to be due to the strengthening of synaptic contacts (long term potentiation (LPT) giving rise to nerve circuits, which are active or easily activated. In TGD framework activation means formation of flux tube network giving rise to quantum entangled state with neurons at the nodes: neural activity generates transmitters serving as bridges between flux tubes associated with axons and create flux tube network carrying a conscious mental image. A quantum coherent entangled tensor network is formed and also classical communications using dark photons are possible in this state. These neurons are firing synchronously. Nerve pulses would not be signals between neurons but would induce communications to magnetic body in scales even larger than body.
   
   
2. Genuine memories - say episodal memories - would in TGD (zero energy ontology, ZEO) correspond to neural activities in geometric past: kind of seeing in time direction. These are typically verbal memories but also sensory memories are possible and can be induced by electric stimulation of brain.
   
   

Consider now the experiments discussed in the popular article Somewhere in the brain is a storage device for memories). They all relate to the identification of memory as a behavioral pattern induced by conditioning and are therefore emotional memories.

1. In one experiment sea slugs learned to avoid painful stimulus. This led to a generation of synaptic contacts between neutrons involving increased synaptic strength - long term potentiation (LPT). Then some drug was used to destroy the LPT. The problem was that the lost contacts were not those formed when the memory was formed!
   
   
2. In second experiment mice were used. A conditioned fear (LPT) was induced in mice and again the generation of synaptic contacts was observed. Then the contacts - long term potentiation - was destroyed completely. Memories as conditioned fear however remained!
   
   

It was an amusing accident to learn about this just when I was building a model for emotions as sensory percepts about the state of magnetic body (MB) fundamental in TGD inspired quantum biology.

1. MB consists of a part formed from highly dynamical flux tube tensor networks having cells and also other structures with other size scales (fractality) as nodes. MB has also a part outside body involving rather large values of h_eff= n× h and having to higher cognitive IQ. Corresponding emotions would be higher level emotions (like experience of beauty) whereas bodily emotions are primitive and involve positive/negative coloring inducing a desire to preserve/change the situation in turn inducing an emotional counterpart of motor activity as excretion of hormones from emotional brain with hypothalamus in the role of highest motor areas and lower glands (both in brain and in body) in the role of lower motor areas.
   
   
2. In the recent case the memories are definitely emotional memories and in TGD framework they would be naturally at the level of body and generated as mental images associated with large numbers of ordinary cells appearing as nodes of quantum entangled flux tube networks giving rise to tensor networks (see this). Hormones would be the tool to modify and generate these networks.
   
   
3. Emotional memories would be represented by the conditioning and analog of LPT at the level of body rather than at the level of brain! Hormones like also other information molecules would act as relays connecting existing pieces of network to larger ones! The neural activity would be involved only with the generation of memories and induce hypothalamus to generate the fear network using the hormones controlling hormonal activities of lower level glands.
   
   
4. The model could also explain the finding that in the splitting of flatworm the both new flatworms inherit the memories and that even non-trained flatworms eating trained flatworms get their memories (defined as behavioral patterns involving emotional conditioning).
   
   

See the article Emotions as sensory percepts about the state of magnetic body? or the chapter with the same title.

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.

Articles and other material related to TGD.