SHUFFLEBRAIN

by Paul Pietsch ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 18, 1980

Deck the mind with hologram transforms, says anatomist Paul Pietsch (Indiana University School of Medicine), and that may explain how memories are laid down. In this brave attempt to flesh out Karl Pribram's original hologram memory notion, Pietsch discusses Fourier analysis, trigonometric functions, and other abstract mathematical phenomena. His point is that information can be coded in waveforms that can be combined or canceled according to how their wave cycles reinforce or interfere with each other. Does this happen in the brain? The question is moot. Despite homely analogies and sometimes eloquent expression, there is no evidence from neuroanatomy. Inevitably, the idea of a hologram--a plate that stores a three-dimensional image of an object achieved by shining laser (or other coherent) light on it, and comparing the resulting waveforms with a reference beam--remains a metaphor. Pribram and Pietsch particularly like the idea that all points on the hologram plate store information about the whole object, so that even if most of the plate is destroyed, the smidgen left can still reveal what the object looked like. This is reminiscent of Karl Lashley's early work on the ""engram""--his word for the memory trace in the nervous system. He was baffled by the fact that rats could still run mazes and learn in spite of having large sections of their brains removed. On the other hand, scientists can pinpoint specific memory losses in patients with lesions in the hippocampus, a small area of cortex. Pietsch readily concedes that the brain seems to exhibit both specificity and generality. The hologram analogy seems comforting, yet he admits it is not sufficient to account for certain dynamic or creative aspects of human memory. Pietsch has a number of interesting asides, and details some of the work he has done with larval salamanders, lovable uglies that submit to intelligence tests after their brains or eyes or limbs have been removed and transplanted. (The transplants generally take, so that three-eyed or Cyclopean forms are possible.) These shufflebrain experiments were the occasion for Pietsch's popular articles and an appearance on television. Sample the book, then, for some insights into nervous system plasticity and ingenuity, but don't expect to land on firm ground if you jump to Pietsch's conclusions.

Pub Date: Feb. 18, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1980

Categories: NONFICTION