Holonomic brain theory | EPFL Graph Search

Holonomic brain theory is a branch of neuroscience investigating the idea that human consciousness is formed by quantum effects in or between brain cells. Holonomic refers to representations in a Hilbert phase space defined by both spectral and space-time coordinates. Holonomic brain theory is opposed by traditional neuroscience, which investigates the brain's behavior by looking at patterns of neurons and the surrounding chemistry. This specific theory of quantum consciousness was developed by neuroscientist Karl Pribram initially in collaboration with physicist David Bohm building on the initial theories of holograms originally formulated by Dennis Gabor. It describes human cognition by modeling the brain as a holographic storage network. Pribram suggests these processes involve electric oscillations in the brain's fine-fibered dendritic webs, which are different from the more commonly known action potentials involving axons and synapses. These oscillations are waves and create wave interference patterns in which memory is encoded naturally, and the wave function may be analyzed by a Fourier transform. Gabor, Pribram and others noted the similarities between these brain processes and the storage of information in a hologram, which can also be analyzed with a Fourier transform. In a hologram, any part of the hologram with sufficient size contains the whole of the stored information. In this theory, a piece of a long-term memory is similarly distributed over a dendritic arbor so that each part of the dendritic network contains all the information stored over the entire network. This model allows for important aspects of human consciousness, including the fast associative memory that allows for connections between different pieces of stored information and the non-locality of memory storage (a specific memory is not stored in a specific location, i.e. a certain cluster of neurons). In 1946 Dennis Gabor invented the hologram mathematically, describing a system where an image can be reconstructed through information that is stored throughout the hologram.

Transient brain activity dynamics discriminate levels of consciousness during anesthesia

Dimitri Nestor Alice Van De Ville, Elvira Pirondini, Ayberk Ozkirli

The awake mammalian brain is functionally organized in terms of large-scale distributed networks that are constantly interacting. Loss of consciousness might disrupt this temporal organization leaving patients unresponsive. We hypothesize that characterizi ...

Nature Portfolio2024

Neuroengineering of hallucinations through fMRI neurofeedback: Understanding and modulating neural dynamics for the control of hallucinations in health and disease

Herberto Dhanis Pedro De Barros Camacho

Recent years have seen considerable progress in understanding brain function, and in modulating it through real-time fMRI neurofeedback (NF). Inspired by these advances, paired with the unique possibility of inducing the clinically relevant Presence Halluc ...

EPFL2023

Early motor skill acquisition in healthy older adults: brain correlates of the learning process

Friedhelm Christoph Hummel, Takuya Morishita, Pablo Maceira Elvira, Manon Chloé Durand-Ruel, Chang-Hyun Park, Maeva Moyne

Motor skill learning is a crucial process at all ages. However, healthy aging is often accompanied by a reduction in motor learning capabilities. This study characterized the brain dynamics of healthy older adults during motor skill acquisition and identif ...

OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC2023