Why Tissue Cell “Memory” Doesn’t Prove “The Body Keeps the Score”
As somatic psychotherapists, Polyvagal-informed coaches, Somatic Experiencing (SE) practitioners, bioenergetic therapists, and trauma-informed mental health professionals, you’re deeply invested in the interplay between mind and body. The phrase “the body keeps the score,” popularized by Bessel van der Kolk’s book, has become a cornerstone for many in our field. It suggests that trauma and mental experiences are stored in the body’s tissues, shaping our emotional and physical health. But recent buzz about tissue cell “memory” has reignited claims that this science validates the idea that “the body keeps the score.” Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. Let’s dive into why, grounded in the most current empirical science, to clarify how the mind and body are one—and why outdated theories need a refresh.
The Hype Around Tissue Cell “Memory”
You may have heard the exciting news: tissue cells have “memory” and even show cognition and agency. Scientist Michael Levin and his lab have demonstrated that non-brain cells, like frog skin cells or human throat cells, can act autonomously when removed from their tissue cell collectives. These cells, dubbed xenobots and anthrobots, build maps of their environment and even reproduce in a Petri dish. Even more mind-blowing? Butterfly cells “remember” things learned as caterpillars, despite undergoing complete cellular transformation during metamorphosis.
For those of us who’ve championed body-based psychotherapy—often dismissed as “woo-woo”—this feels like a vindication. It’s tempting to leap from these findings to the claim that “the body keeps the score,” asserting that cells store trauma or mental experiences. I get it; I’ve been there. Early in my career, I would’ve made that leap, too, influenced by teachers who presented outdated theories as science. But the truth is, this groundbreaking research doesn’t support the idea that the body keeps the score in the way many assume.
What Is Tissue Cell “Memory,” Really?
To understand why, let’s unpack what tissue cell “memory” actually means. Michael Levin’s work, including his latest experiment published in Nature, shows that cells hold “memory” in what he calls “anatomical morphospace.” A striking example: when Levin’s team placed eyeball cells in a tadpole’s tail, those cells not only “remembered” how to form a working eyeball but also recruited nearby tail cells to help build it. This is tissue cell memory—cells retaining instructions for constructing organs and tissues, not storing your mental concepts or traumatic memories.
Contrast this with brain cells, which form a cellular collective responsible for allostasis: the predictive regulation of the body’s processes. Brain cells generate your conscious experience, tracking your body’s state as you navigate the world to secure energy for survival. They build models based on your past experience which includes your behavioral experiences in 3D space—like a traumatic event—and compress them into predictions. Tissue cells, however, don’t do this. Their “memory” is about anatomical function, not mental or emotional concepts.
Why This Doesn’t Mean “The Body Keeps the Score”
The idea that “the body keeps the score” implies that tissue cells store trauma or mental experiences and communicate these as concepts (like “trauma”) to the brain. But tissue cells don’t have that capability. They may communicate information about homeostatic set points—energetic states that the brain might interpret as heightened arousal during its process of allostasis. But this isn’t “trauma.” It’s just data—an energetic arousal set point of those cells. This data has no inherent meaning.
To claim that tissue cells “keep the score” of trauma, you’d need evidence that they encode and communicate complex mental concepts. Current science, including Levin’s work, shows no such thing. Trauma is a concept, and like all mental concepts, it is constructed and contextualized by the brain based on past experiences, sense data from the body, and current context. Then the brain looks for evidence of that concept in the body and the world, but the body itself doesn’t “remember” trauma the way the brain does.
Reframing the Mind-Body Connection
So, where does this leave us as body-based mental health professionals? The science of tissue cell memory is thrilling, but it doesn’t validate the notion that “the body keeps the score” in the way popularized. Instead, it underscores a more nuanced truth: the mind and body are one through the brain’s modeling of the body’s internal state, shaped by past experiences and current context. Your mental life emerges from this process, not from tissues independently storing your traumatic memories.
This perspective aligns with the latest empirical cognitive science and frees us from outdated theories that oversimplify and mislead about the mind-body connection. It also empowers us to focus on what works: building metacognition of the mind, awareness of the body, how to process experiences, and move toward healing without ascribing mystical properties to tissue cells.
Embracing a Science-Driven Foundation
Life, at its core, is about energy flow—getting enough in and out to keep the system alive and thriving. This might sound reductive, but it’s liberating. If we look at experiences like trauma as a concept constructed from experience by the mind, then we can also deconstruct it and build something else. Whatever was constructed in the mind served a purpose at one time. But when it no longer does so, it’s time to change it. This is what neuroplasticity is all about. By grounding our work in rigorous science, we can move beyond the allure of popular phrases like “the body keeps the score” and offer precise, effective interventions for trauma and mental health.
