IUBio

Pribam quotes, please help

dag.stenberg at helsinki.nospam.fi dag.stenberg at helsinki.nospam.fi
Wed Jan 6 08:49:05 EST 1999


Thiele Everett <m9233 at abc.se> wrote:
> "In the holographic state -- in the zone of frequencies -- maybe four
> thousand years ago is tomorrow" 

My _guess_: the holographic transformation can be achieved with Fouirer
analysis, which eliminates the time scale.

> and, perhaps from the same text:
> "Don't think I understand all this either" 
> He [K.H.Pribram] uses terms like: "the holographic state/condition" ?
>                     "the frequency area/zone/region" ?
> and possibly:       "the holographic paradigm"

In Pribram, K.H. "Languages of the Brain", Prentice-Hall, 1971, chapter
8 is dedicated to holograms. The hologram theory has a prominent place
in the book.

On p. 152:
 "The essence of the holographic concept is that Images are reconstructed
when representations in the form of distributed information systems are
appropriately engaged. These representations operate as filters or
screens. In fact, as we have noted, one derivative of the holographic
process comes from a consideration of optical filtering mechanisms.
Holography in this frame of reference is conceived as an instantaneous
analogue cross-correlation performed by matched filters. In the brain
correlation can take place at various levels. In more peripheral
stations correlation occurs between successive configurations produced
by receptor excitation : the residuals left by adaptation through
decrementing form a buffer memory register to be updated by current
input. At more central stations correlation entails a more complex
interaction : at any moment illput is correlated not only with the
configuration of excitation existing at any locus, but also with
patterns arriving from other statiolls. An example of this sort of
complexity is shown in the experilllental results described in Chapter 7
where the configuration of potelltial changes in the visual cortex was
determined not only by the visual cues observed by a monkey, but also by
the contingencies of reillforcement and the "intention" to make one or
another response."

In chapter 19, on p. 370:
"My hypothesis is that all thinking bas, in addition to sign and  symbol
manipulation, a holographic component. Holographic representations are
excellent associative mechanisms; they powerfully and instantaneously
perform cross-correlations. These are the very properties that have been
attributed to thought in the problem solving process the difficulty bas
been to make explicit the neural mechanism involved. Both this
difficulty and the ubiquitous use by the brain of holographic
transformations stem from another attribute :
holograms are composed by transformations which, when they are  simply
repeated, essentially reconstruct the original from which the
holographic representation was composed. Holograms are the "catalysts of
thought." Though they remain unchanged, they enter into and facilitate
the thought process.
According to this view, thought is a search through the distributed 
holographic memory for resolution of uncertainty, i.e., for acquisition
of relevant information. This formulation is inadequate, however, unless
the term relevan t infe)rmation includes appropriate configurations as
well as items or bits in the information-theoretic sense. More often
than not, when problems generate thought' contextual and configurational
matchings are sought' not just specific items of information. These
matchings, 1 believe, can occur best while the coding operation is in
its holographic mode. Perhaps the power of thought in problem solving
resides in the repeated return to the configurational form of
representation that serves a rehearsal function and allows the
occurrence of additional distributions in memory. Some of these
distributions will, because of correlations with brain states different
from the initial one, become imbedded in new representations. They thus
become available, when properly triggered, as new possibilities in
problem solving."

Not that this makes much sense to me, nor might it help you very much.
At least it is better to look for Pribram than Pribam if you are
searching for references in libraries.

Dag Stenberg



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