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2-7. Do memories require an ongoing metabolism to support them, like RAM in a computer? (Cryonics)




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This article is from the Cryonics FAQ, by Tim Freeman tim@infoscreen.com with numerous contributions by others.

2-7. Do memories require an ongoing metabolism to support them, like RAM in a computer? (Cryonics)

No. Here's a relevant quote, supplied by Brian Wowk:

We know that secondary memory does not depend on continued
activity of the nervous system, because the brain can be
*totally inactivated* (emphasis added) by cooling, by general
anesthesia, by hypoxia, by ischemia, or by any method and yet
secondary memories that have been previously stored are still
retained when the brain becomes active once again.

Textbook of Medical Physiology, Arthur C. Guyton, W.B. Saunders
Company, Philadelphia, 1986

Thomas Donaldson says that brain waves of supercooled small animals
have been measured, and there are none, even though the animals still
have their memories after they are rewarmed. He cites AU Smith, ed.
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF FREEZING AND SUPERCOOLING, London, 1961; article
by Aubrey Smith herself, "Revival of mammals from body temperatures
below zero", pp. 304-368.

 

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