Neuropsychoanalysis: what it is and how it studies the human mind

Although the general idea of ​​psychoanalysis is that they have nothing to do with neurosciences, the truth is that the aspect subjective view of the Freudian current and the scientific study of the brain allow us to have a fairly complete vision of being human.

Neuropsychoanalysis is a psychological current that has combined psychoanalysis and neuroscience to gain a closer, scientific understanding of the human mind, something that was not long believed to be possible.

Next we will try to explain in more depth what are the foundations of this current, its current lines of research and its historical origins.

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What is neuropsychoanalysis?

Neuropsychoanalysis is a variant of the current of psychoanalysis that integrates neurosciences with psychoanalytic postulates. This current is relatively new, having its conceptual foundation at the end of the 20th century, although since the time of Sigmund Freud it can be glimpsed

the relationship between scientific study of the brain and psychological theorization of the mind.

This current of thought is considered a fairly balanced and equitable proposal, since it is not shown extremely subjective with respect to the idea of ​​consciousness and mind, nor does it abuse scientificity as some neurosciences come to make. By combining psychoanalysis and neuroscience, he obtains an approach to the mind and its neurobiological foundation, considered by some to be a fairly reliable description of human reality.

Story

Neuropsychoanalysis cannot be understood without paying attention to the figure of Sigmund Freud and his early psychoanalytic theories. One aspect that is perhaps little known about the Austrian psychoanalyst is that he was a neuroscientist and neurologist for the first two decades of his professional life. Perhaps not in the way we understand it today, but certainly his interest in the brain and how this is related to consciousness brings it closer to the premises of neurology more than one could think.

The origins of neuropsychoanalysis can be traced to one of Sigmund Freud's leftovers, Project for a Scientific Psychology from 1895. In this text Freud developed his theories on the neurobiological function of memory, stating that it had to be found in the brain, but without knowing exactly what the region would be. Freud speculated that psychodynamic theories and neurobiology would eventually add strength over time, transforming into a single field of study in which the biologist study of the brain and the psychoanalyst of the mind.

The famous psychoanalyst he attempted to conduct a scientific program of mapping the human mind (metapsychology), which for him were closely related to the structure and functions of the human brain. Despite his efforts, Freud himself insisted that the brain sciences of his time did not have the conceptual tools or techniques necessary to carry out such mental mapping. As a consequence, Freud adopted a purely psychological method.

In the second half of the 20th century advances in neuroscience led to the subjective study of the human mind. In the 1930s, electroencephalography was invented, which allowed us to see the brain like never before, and on top of that, live. Later it was possible to verify the functioning of the brain by performing different types of activities, which areas were activated and how injuries disturbed the neural systems.

In 1999, after years of advances in neuroimaging techniques such as computed tomography, electroencephalography and structural magnetic resonance, neuropsychoanalysis was born. Thus arose the union of two fields of the study of the human mind and brain, considering that one was incomplete without the other. Among its founders we have such important figures for psychology as: Antonio Damasio, Eric Kandel, Joseph LeDoux, Helen Mayberg, Jaak Panksepp, Oliver Sacks and Mark Solms.

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Theoretical foundations: dual monism

The first problem that can be discussed when neuropsychoanalysis is mentioned is the problem of how mind and brain are related, considered as the great problem of neuroscience. Basically, cHow is it possible that the brain can settle the mind and consciousness in general terms.

In fact, one of the questions in neuropsychoanalysis is whether the mind is being narrowed down too extreme to the brain. Is the mind being convincingly explained or is the functioning of the mind and brain simply being correlated? If so, what would be the causal basis for this correlation? Would the mind really be in the brain? Where would it be located? Is the mind an emergent property of the brain?

The fundamental conceptualization of neuropsychoanalysis is that of dual-aspect monism. Freud points out that the real nature of the mind is unconscious, an idea that can be related to Kant's philosophy. For Kant, being subjective, the thing that is perceived when we look within is not the mind itself. The mind itself cannot be directly perceived. The mind can only be known via our phenomenal consciousness, which provides an indirect and incomplete representation of the mental apparatus and its functioning.

The actual ontological nature of the mind is epistemologically unknowable. Its nature can be inferred from our own conscious observations, thus expanding the limits of consciousness, which is the goal of the psychoanalytic method. However, it will never be possible to know the mind directly. You have to resort to abstractions derived from inferences and build figurative models, something that Freudian metapsychology has tried to explain with its notions of economic, dynamic and topographical points of view.

Other branches of psychology, regardless of their degree of scientificity, also have epistemological limitations when trying to describe the inner workings of the mind. An example of this are the multiple models that try to explain the functioning of memory, dual-path reading or the models of divergent visual systems involved.

The relationship between neuroscience and psychoanalysis is that of, as we have mentioned, relating the brain as a biological entity to psychological functions and human behavior. Neuropsychoanalysis aims to do that the classic exclusion of neurosciences with respect to the concept of the mind, seen as something excessively subjective, is overcome.

The mind is an indisputably subjective entity, since it is made up of sensations, thoughts, consciousness and feelings. This conception can be seen as too contrary to the scientific spirit motivated by the natural sciences, specifically neurobiology and other neurosciences.

However, the now classical idea that brain and mind are related is well established, since the time of Descartes, who argued that they were two different but connected entities. He is the inventor of the dualism of the mind, the dichotomy of the mind and the body. The body is an object, one thing, while the mind, also known as spirit or soul in its time, is another, but in one way or another they are related. An injury to the brain implies dysfunction in that mind.

Main lines of research

Currently neuropsychoanalysis has several lines of research open, especially focused on the more scientific study of the idea of ​​consciousness and what structures make it up.

It is also investigating what dreams are, what they could mean, how conspiracies occur and other types of expressions of thought that, although Modern psychology has rejected that they could have any kind of meaning, the truth is that it is difficult to accept the idea that they appear completely random. Among the ideas that have been raised for its appearance is the loss of executive control in the mesocortical and mesolimbic systems.

The Freudian concept of libido has been related to the dopaminergic systemAnd, without a doubt, the ideas of instinct and pleasure-seeking proposed by early psychoanalysis have their neurobiological counterpart. This search for pleasure is related to the instinct for survival and reproduction, which is a fundamental aspect for the continuation of the human species.

Bibliographic references:

• Mark Solms and Oliver Turnbull (2013) What is neuropsychoanalysis? University Psychiatry. 9(2), 153-165.
• Damasio A. (2011). Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain. London: Heinemann
• Freud S. (1915). The unconscious. Standard Edition, 14
• Freud S. (1950 [1895]). Project for a scientific psychology. Standard Edition, 1: 175