Alzabo elixir not so far-fetched?

David Stockhoff · 14 Jul 2013, 05:29 · from 2013-July.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 01:29:21 -0400
Subject: (urth) Alzabo elixir not so far-fetched?
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On 7/13/2013 11:30 PM, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> From: Gerry Quinn <gerry at bindweed.com>
>>   
>> http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/10/4510580/planarian-worm-regrows-memories-after-decapitation
>
> Planaria that had been trained to overcome their instinctive avoidance of bright lights and open spaces
> were decapitated.  After regenerating their heads, they could be trained to do the same things in only one
> lesson.
>
> That doesn't have much to do with gaining someone's memories by eating part of them.
>
> Jerry Friedman

I assume the connection would be that memories traditionally considered 
to be stored on the brain were in this case stored elsewhere in the 
body. That seems to be a key Wolfean conceit and one presumably 
necessary for the alzabo effect, unless the animal always eats the brain 
before it mimics its dead prey. However, there may be other ways to 
explain this behavior in planaria.

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