How brain trauma might relate to past lives

[Kasiette]

Hello there, I'm new to the forum. I've been known to browse occasionally but for now I have a tidbit of information people may be interested in.

Approaching from a scientific angle, I'm going to briefly talk about memory's biological basis in basic terms. Most scientific theories suggest that human memory is stored in the area of the brain called the hippocampus, but there is evidence that 'ingrained' memory (such as how to walk, how to ride a bike) is located elsewhere. Therefore it's mostly episodic memories that are stored in the hippocampus.

A few cases that are inexplicable by science involve trauma to the brain, leading to what I believe could be evidence of reincarnation. (Yes I enjoy science, but I like to believe not everything can be explained by it :laugh: )

There have been numerous stories such as this one (click) in which people wake up from brain trauma somehow able to speak completely fluent in a different language. I recall there being another woman who woke up able to speak fluent Spanish. Furthermore, there is such a thing as 'Foreign Accent Syndrome' where the individual inexplicably begins to talk in a different accent.

Now while the Foreign Accent Syndrome may simply accounted for by exposure to different accents either through travel, people or the media, it is still extremely difficult to begin speaking a different accent. I'm on the fence about this one.

But to speak a different language altogether is just inexplicable. Scientists have attempted to claim that it is just exposure to the language over time, but to be fluent in a different language requires mastery over vocabulary and syntax.
I personally believe it's evidence of reincarnation.

What do you guys think?

 

[MaritaMari]

I'd think that stories like these would be earth shattering, but they aren't. To me, that is the mystery. Even scientists act this way. Anomalies are ignored when they deserve an explanation, but to explain it would mean admitting everything they thought was right, is wrong.

Couldn't agree with you more, KDB. Science is something that should look for answers no matter what they may turn out to be. The point is to know and understand the truth and not tu stubbornly continue living in the world you were told was right. In my opinion, the greatest problem with science is that scientists tend to proclaim anything they don't know as nonexistent and that, unfortunately, is not a scientific method at all.

 

[argonne1918]

There is a British heretic scientist named Rupert Sheldrake who is asking the same questions. You can see his videos on YouTube. And a recent column in a scientific journal suggested many scientists refuse to even look at the evidence because they are afraid they might be wrong. If they are wrong, how would that affect their careers, etc.? I would say speaking a foreign language that was previously unknown to the person is strong evidence of past life memories. Look in the children's memories section here. There are many cases where 2, 3, and 4 year olds say strange words that are researched and turn out to be foreign language, including Yiddish which is not spoken by many people today. How would scientists explain that?

 

[MaritaMari]

What I'm going to say is a bit off, but it proves the danger of what scientists are doing.


In country there is an archeologist, a prominent one. One of the people who worked with him on the excavation site told me that he often breaks into pieces what they find IF that something doesn't fit his theory. So what he is basically doing is acknowledging ONLY the artifacts that support his theories and deliberately DESTROYS the ones that don't.


This, I believe, is the main problem with science today.

 

[usetawuz]

Science is solely "story based on past experience"...the story changes only when new information becomes available to correct or invalidate the old story. Humanity, through fear, ego or simply inertia, will choose to believe the old story before the new story until it becomes impossible to deny it. The difficulty in making the transition from the old story to the new is determined by what the promoters of the old story have to lose.


As for the OP, this is another excellent example of "old story still outweighing new story".

 

[Tinkerman]

Hello Kasiette, and welcome! Thank you for breaking the ice and posing a most interesting point. I believe the obvious answer to your post IS reincarnation, as you suggest. Why is this answer (so obvious an answer...) not given more thought? I think the further we advance, the more we understand just how these things are connected. It only takes brave scientists, like Argonne mentions, to take the forward steps. With the number of cases being broadcast in the media, and a society ready to break away from antiquated religious doctrine, I just bet we'll hear more and more stories linking past life memories to current life behavior.


On a related note, I lived in Germany for a few years, and learned to speak the language very easily. It was 20 years later that I remembered my life as a German pioneer, my great grandfather. The ethnicity and language were, and are, indeed a major part of my soul in this life. Communication skills are a powerful part of the human experience. And I have no doubt they follow us around through the centuries...


Tman

 

[spacecase0]

I have debated this same topic with one of my friends,


he thinks it is just remote viewing of someone's past life,


I tend to think it is reincarnation.

 

[argonne1918]

So what he is basically doing is acknowledging ONLY the artifacts that support his theories and deliberately DESTROYS the ones that don't. This, I believe, is the main problem with science today.

It sounds like he is afraid of losing his grant money. "Follow the money". Most scientists are doing research, etc. that is paid for by someone else. Paid for perhaps by someone with certain expectations or goals in mind.

 

[argonne1918]

To the OP, speaking another language is major, but what would (in my opinion) add to any proof of reincarnation is if she uses some regional dialect, or uses archaic words.

There are cases of that here in the forum.

 

[argonne1918]

I have debated this same topic with one of my friends,
he thinks it is just remote viewing of someone's past life,


I tend to think it is reincarnation.

Does he understand that "remote viewing" is a psychic ability? It's a new name for clairvoyance.

 

[MaritaMari]

One of the Leakys? I remember reading where they'd send off some bones for dating to several labs, and they'd choose to use the lab that claimed the bones were the oldest.

At least they didn't destroy the bones... Though it's very damaging to our understanding of the world and history...

It sounds like he is afraid of losing his grant money. "Follow the money". Most scientists are doing research, etc. that is paid for by someone else. Paid for perhaps by someone with certain expectations or goals in mind.

People in my country don't earn much money for scientific research (that's why there's no much s. research). I would rather say that it was his ego speaking - "I'm the great archeologist. What I say must be true. If the evidence doesnt't show that I'm right, people might think I'm not a great archeologist, so it's better to get rid of it." Though I don't exclude the possibility that he was also paid... everything is possible.

 

[MaritaMari]

Does he understand that "remote viewing" is a psychic ability? It's a new name for clairvoyance.

I'm even more interested in how on Earth is it possible to be "clairvoyant" or intuitive about only one person or a very specific period and country and not about others...


I thought about it in regard of my own case, because I still think that maybe I'm just very intuitive, but then again I guess I would be intuitive in general, not only when it comes to only one person... it doesn't have sense.

 

[argonne1918]

Many people with intuitive or psychic ability also have memories of past lives. That's very common here in the forum.

 

[MaritaMari]

I don't see why should one exclude the other. If reincarnation is real, than every single one of us had pl/s. Now, some of us may remember them and some of us not; equally, some of us may be intuitive and some of us not. The problem, I believe, arises when people confuse intuition with pl memory. It's not bad per se, it's just that some people may then claim certain past lives, while they actually had a psychic vision (I apologize for the incorrect terminology when it comes to psychics ).

 

[Kasiette]

@ Marita Marie & Argonne: I personally believe that everyone is 'psychic' to some degree, and that we are all linked to each other in a spiderweb of connections. I believe that's how a lot of us are able to sense a change of mood in the atmosphere.


Although I don't claim to have extremely good psychic skills, I sometimes think of particular people when something happens to them. I've also heard tell of many people who just 'know' when something has affected a loved one.


Interesting stuff.

 

[Marc Ross]

'Xenoglossy'

Hello there, I'm new to the forum. I've been known to browse occasionally but for now I have a tidbit of information people may be interested in.
Approaching from a scientific angle, I'm going to briefly talk about memory's biological basis in basic terms. Most scientific theories suggest that human memory is stored in the area of the brain called the hippocampus, but there is evidence that 'ingrained' memory (such as how to walk, how to ride a bike) is located elsewhere. Therefore it's mostly episodic memories that are stored in the hippocampus.


A few cases that are inexplicable by science involve trauma to the brain, leading to what I believe could be evidence of reincarnation. (Yes I enjoy science, but I like to believe not everything can be explained by it :laugh: )


There have been numerous stories such as this one (click) in which people wake up from brain trauma somehow able to speak completely fluent in a different language. I recall there being another woman who woke up able to speak fluent Spanish. Furthermore, there is such a thing as 'Foreign Accent Syndrome' where the individual inexplicably begins to talk in a different accent.


Now while the Foreign Accent Syndrome may simply accounted for by exposure to different accents either through travel, people or the media, it is still extremely difficult to begin speaking a different accent. I'm on the fence about this one.


But to speak a different language altogether is just inexplicable. Scientists have attempted to claim that it is just exposure to the language over time, but to be fluent in a different language requires mastery over vocabulary and syntax.


I personally believe it's evidence of reincarnation.


What do you guys think?

'Xenoglossy' - the phenomenon in which a person is able to speak or write a language he or she could not have acquired by natural means.


LINK: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoglossy


The Book: 'Past Lives: An Investigation into Reincarnation Memories - By Peter Fenwick, Elizabeth Fenwick' is also listed in Wikipedia's discussion on Xenoglossy.

 

[Owl]

How beautiful it would be to find out the connection between the brain and past life memories... sigh, hopefully soon.


Anyways, just as a comment, the Hippocampus is actually only involved in recently acquired memories, then it goes to the temporal lobe, and then nobody really knows.


I agree with you that xenoglossy after brain trauma could be some sort of evidence of reincarnation. What we need to find out now is if the reason why that is possible is because the brain trauma damaged an area that was interfering with the past life memory flow, if it "broke the unconscious barrier" to say it somehow.


It' ll be an interesting review paper to categorize all the cases where xenoglossy has occurred after brain trauma and compare the brain lesions.

 

[Mere Dreamer]

What a beautiful idea, Owl. I do hope a scientist or few take on that challenge. I'd read it. coffee


Xenoglossy is such an interesting concept. I must say, I do hope my PL experiences help me in immersion language learning because textbooks are not intuitive enough to teach me much.


The brain is so odd. I read somewhere that they've blended the brains of some creatures and returned the mess back to the brain cavity ... and they were still able to run mazes that they'd learned before the trauma. The idea makes me feel a bit nauseous ... but wow!


Seems to confirm we're just physical input and output ports for the intangible consciousness.

 

[Owl]

What a beautiful idea, Owl. I do hope a scientist or few take on that challenge. I'd read it. coffee

Thanks. It' ll be actually a pretty hard job seems nobody in the scientific community seems to care about xenoglossy for some reason. There are only two papers in Pubmed regarding the subject, one is by Ian Stevenson. The other included the word "paranormal phenomena". However, we see in the news (at least internet news) cases all the time. I don't understand why nobody is trying any approach to them.

Xenoglossy is such an interesting concept. I must say, I do hope my PL experiences help me in immersion language learning because textbooks are not intuitive enough to teach me much.

I don't understand, how are you planning on learning? I like to learn new languages and I hate textbooks as well, a past life based method could be quite interesting!

 

[Mere Dreamer]

I don't understand, how are you planning on learning? I like to learn new languages and I hate textbooks as well, a past life based method could be quite interesting!

*laugh* I believe I remember/recognize the spoken cadence and rhythm of the languages I once knew.


When I attempted to learn Japanese from a book, I found the books frustrating because they were stilted and awkward in their presentation of sentence structure and phrasing. They only become useful after I have a basic sense of natural speech flow ... so I listen to native speakers in video and music in hopes that it will help me learn faster later on.


To me, the flow of their words makes sense. I think that intuitive reaction is part of why I tend toward the poetic,... the only way you can get away with that sort of sentence structure in English.


I still need to learn the vocabulary somehow. I wish I still had the words! saywhat I'm planning to experiment with whether I pick up the language more rapidly when I move to Japan in a few years, and whether "meditating while studying/learning" will help. (the dream-like plans I make) It's easier when I'm with someone who will just say the missing word for me until it becomes my own, like a parent would teach a child.


*sigh* I grew up surrounded by a country full of Spanish speakers, but I never was comfortable with the natural flow of the language, and always too shy to practice. So far I haven't uncovered any Spanish past lives ... not as though that explains anything. It just makes me wonder. Why did I not care about learning Spanish, at all? Why do the Japanese and Chinese languages fascinate me so much that I try learning them even though I have nobody to talk with?


I'm new to exploring past lives, so I'm basically a mass of theory at this point. *laugh* I'll be experimenting for the rest of my life.


Oh, wow! I just realized I spent the "years when PL memories are strongest" among the Quechua, who are descendants of the Inca. Mom says I was fluent back then, even though I hardly remember any of the language now. Given my recent re-remembering of Inca flashbacks as a child, maybe there was some Xenoglossy going on, though nobody would have noticed since I was playing and speaking with Quechua children anyway. Too bad there isn't a way to test the theory. Heh.