Deck the mind with hologram transforms, says anatomist Paul Pietsch of Indiana University's School of Medicine. 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 & 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 & sometimes eloquent expression, there's no evidence from neuroanatomy. Inevitably, the idea of a hologram--a plate that stores a 3d image of an object achieved by coherent light on it, & comparing the resulting waveforms with a reference beam--remains a metaphor. Pribram & Pietsch particularly like the idea that all points on the hologram plate store information about the whole object. 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 engrams--his word for the memory trace in the nervous system. He was baffled by the fact that rats could still run mazes & learn despite having large brain sections 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 the brain seems to exhibit both specificity & generality. The hologram analogy seems comforting, yet he admits it's not sufficient to account for certain dynamic or creative aspects of memory. He has a number of interesting asides & details some of the work he has done with larval salamanders, lovable uglies that submit to intelligence tests after their brains, eyes or limbs have been removed & transplanted. (The transplants generally take, so that 3-eyed or Cyclopean forms are possible.) These shufflebrain experiments were the occasion for his popular articles & tv appearance. Sample the book for some insights into nervous system plasticity & ingenuity, but don't expect to land on firm ground if you jump to his conclusions.--Kirkus (edited)