The Holonomic Brain Theory, conceived by Stanford Professor Karl Pribram and further developed in collaboration with physicist David Bohm, presents a radically different model of human cognition compared to conventional views. Pribram and Bohm proposed a cognitive framework guided by a matrix of neurological wave interference patterns. They describe our mind as a system where our thoughts are influenced by a complex network of brain waves. These brain waves interact with each other, sort of like ripples in water, and they play a role in how we perceive the world around us.

Pribram initially noted parallels between the hologram concept and Bohm's notion of the implicate order in physics, prompting collaboration. Specifically, the distribution of information about an image point throughout the hologram, where each fragment contains details about the entire image, intrigued Pribram regarding memory encoding in the brain. This speculation was bolstered by findings from Berkley Professors DeValois and DeValois, demonstrating that cells in the visual cortex exhibited spatial frequency encoding akin to a Fourier transform of the input pattern. The term "holonomic" was coined to encompass this idea beyond holograms.