Mind transfer (biological)

For a transfer of mind to a computer, see Mind uploading.

Mind transfer or identity transfer is a storytelling device seen in a variety of science fiction and supernatural fiction, in which one's consciousness is transferred into another body. A "bidirectional" mind transfer is variously called body swap, mind swap, or identity exchange.

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction distinguishes the following types of identity transfer:

  • Transfer of the personality to another body akin to mind uploading into computer
  • Brain transplant
  • Aliens taking over human bodies
  • Shared identity, whereby the host body accepts another's mind

Early occurrences include The Year 4338: Petersburg Letters (Vladimir Odoyevsky, 1835), in which mind transfer is but a plot trick to travel into the future, and "Exchanging Their Souls" (Edward Page Mitchell, 1877), where it is used as a "wonderful cure" for a "Russian Prince Michalskovich".

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