Karl H. Pribram (born February 25, 1919 in Vienna, Austria) was trained as a neurosurgeon. A long time professor at Stanford University, he did pioneering work on the elucidation of the cerebral cortex. To the general public, he is better known for his development of the holonomic brain model of cognitive function. Pribram is less known for his theory about so-called "spiritual" experiences. Pribram is now a research profe ssor in Psychology and Cognitive Science at Georgetown University. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... This article is about the city and federal state in Austria. ... Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating the central and peripheral nervous system. ... For other meanings of Stanford, see Stanford (disambiguation). ... Cerebral cortex - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The holonomic brain theory, originated by Karl Pribram and initially developed in collaboration with David Bohm, suggests cognitive function is guided by a matrix of neurological wave interference patterns situated temporally between holographic Gestalt perception and discrete, affective, quantum vectors derived from reward anticipation potentials. ... The term cognition is used in several different loosely related ways. ... Psychology (Classical Greek: psyche = soul or mind, logos = study of) is an academic and applied field involving the study of behaviour, mind and thought and, frequently the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including problems of individuals daily lives and the treatment of mental illness. ... Cognitive science is usually defined as the scientific study either of mind or of intelligence (e. ... Georgetown University Georgetown University is a major research university in the United States. ...

Pribram's holonomic model, developed in collaboration with quantum physicist David Bohm, theorizes that memory/information is stored not in cells, but rather in wave interference patterns. Pribram was drawn to this conclusion by two facts: (1) there are visual cortex response functions that correspond to Gabor functions, which in turn are related to hologram image functions, and (2) drastic lesions can be made in animal brains which reduce, but do not extinguish memories (training), as demonstrated by Karl Lashley in the 1920s. Pribram utilizes Fourier analysis, based on the Fourier Theorem, a form of calculus that transforms complex patterns into component sine waves. Pribram's theory also explains how the human brain can store so many memories in such limited space. A growing number of researchers belie ve his theory may be the most accurate model of reality science has yet offered. Holography (from the Greek, Όλος-holos whole + γραφή-graphe writing) is the science of producing holograms, an advanced form of photography that allows an image to be recorded in three dimensions. ... Photograph of David Bohm. ... Memory is a function of the brain: the ability to retain information. ... Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green) The cell is the structural and functional unit of all living organisms, sometimes called the building blocks of life. ... Interference of two circular waves - Wavelength (decreasing bottom to top) and Wave centers distance (increasing to the right). ... The visual cortex is the part of the cerebral cortex of the brain that is responsible for processing visual stimuli. ... Dennis Gabor (Gábor Dénes) (5th June, 1900, Budapest - 9th February, 1979, London) was a Hungarian physicist who is most notable for inventing holography. ... This article is about the photographic technique. ... A lesion is a non-specific term referring to abnormal tissue in the body. ... Karl S. Lashley (1890-1958) was an American behaviorist well-remembered for his influential contributions to the study of learning and memory. ... Harmonic analysis is the branch of mathematics which studies the representation of functions or signals as the superposition of basic waves. ... In mathematics, the Fourier theorem is a theorem stating that a periodic function f(x), which is reasonably continuous, may be expressed as the sum of a series of sine and cosine terms (called the Fourier series), each of which has specific amplitude and phase coefficients known as Fourier coefficients. ... In trigonometry, an ideal sine wave is a waveform whose graph is identical to the generalized sine function y = Asin[ω(x − α)] + C, where A is the amplitude, ω is the angular frequency (2π/P where P is the wavelength), α is the phase shift, and C is the... In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the supervisory center of the nervous system. ...

Pribram believes the brain operates according to the same quantum mathematical principles as a hologram. Bohm has suggested these wave forms may compose hologram-like org anizations. That is a very different way of looking at the universe: from a lens defined world view, a view quite different from the more conventional biological psychiatry approach, which defers primarily to the much more widely accepted chemi cal imbalance theory. A lens is: a part of the eye an optical device that may be used in a camera or in a telescope; see lens (optics). ... Biological psychiatry, sometimes referred to as bio-psychiatry, is a term used mainly by critics of mainstream mental health orthodoxy to describe what many believe are unproven and subjective diagnostic and treatment practices in the mental health field. ...

Technological advances associated with brain wave patterns, such as brain imaging and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), have emerged and become more prominent in recent years. These advances, foreshadowed by the insights of Pribram and Bohm, offer the potential for improving diagnostic objectivity and the efficacy of psychiatric interventions. Researchers have made significant advances with TMS brain implants, which focus magnetic pulses on specific brain regio ns, thereby altering the neurological wave patterns that Pribram describes. TMS has proved a valuable tool in the treatment of epilepsy, and shows promise for efforts to suppress certain thought processes. Brain imaging is a fairly recent discipline within medicine and neuroscience. ... Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is the use of powerful rapidly changing magnetic fields to induce electric fields in the brain by electromagnetic induction without the need for surgery or external electrodes. ...

It is now widely recognized that the electrical activity of neural membranes (which result from the activity of ion channel transfers) is a significant variable affecting cognition, meaning the conventional biological psychiatry model of brain function will be seriously challenged, or supplanted entir ely, by a more advanced model. Pribram believes that if psychology is to understand the conditions producing the world of appearances, it must look to the thinking of physicists like Bohm. A physicist is a scientist trained in physics. ...

Pribram's other contributions include a quan tum approach to neurophilosophy: "this is the critical thing -- that if indeed we're right that these quantum-like phenomena, or the rules of quantum mechanics, apply all the way through to our psychological processes, to what's going on in the nerv ous system -- then we have an explanation perhaps, certainly we have a parallel, to the kind of experiences that people have called spiritual experiences. Because the descriptions you get with spiritual experiences seem to parallel the descriptions of qua ntum physics." [1] This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Neurophilosophy is the interdisciplinary study of neuroscience and philosophy. ...

When asked recently to summarize his research interests, Pribram wrote: "My interests are focused on cerebral function as it relates to psychological processes. I am especially concerned with the differe nces between the functions of the posterior convexity of the brain on the one hand, and its frontolimbic systems on the other. Briefly put, the convexity deals with locating us in space and time; the frontolimbic formations monitor that experience to create a narrative about our existence. The substance of my research and theorizing is to provide data and interpretations as to just how our brains organize the psychological processes that make up 'locating' and 'monitoring'."

Books

• Plans and the Structure of Behavior (with George Miller and Eugene Galanter) 1960
• Languages of the Brain 1971
• Freud's "Project" Reassessed (with Merton Gill) 1976
• Brain and Perception 1991

Edited by Pribram

• Biology of Memory (with Donald Broadbent) 1970
• Rethinking Neural Networks 1993
• Origins: Brain & Self Organization 1994
• Scale in Conscious Experience: Is the Brain Too Important to be Left to Specialists to Study? 1995
• Learning as Self-Organization 1996
• Brain and Values 1997

External Links

• ACSA2000.net - 'Comparison between Holographic Brain Theory and conventional models of neuronal computation', Jeff Prideaux
• om/karl_havel_prize.htm KatherineNeville.com - 'Pribram Receives Havel Prize For His Work in Neuroscience' (October 8, 1999)
• PariCenter.com - 'Brain and Mathematics', Karl Pribram
• ReutersHealth - 'Sony invention beams sights, sounds into brain' (April 6, 2005)
• SyberVision.com - 'Pribram: The Magellan of Brain Science', Daniel Goleman, Psychology Today
• IHUG.co.nz - 'Like Bohm, Karl Pribram sees the holographic nature of reality' (October 2003)
• [2] - 'The Holographic Brain', Interview with Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove, 1998 THINKING ALLOWED PRODUCTIONS

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