The mind–brain relation and neuroscientific foundations: II. Neurobehavioral integrations

Changes in SWB following injury to different brain lobes

A neurological substrate for subjective well-being (SWB) has received little research attention.

PURPOSE

This study was designed to conduct exploratory investigation into the neuroanatomical correlates of SWB, by monitoring the SWB of a head-injured population over a six-month period.

METHOD

Seventy people with head injury (HI), aged 10-65, were studied. The SWB of each participant was measured, and computed tomography (CT) scans were analysed to obtain regional brain injury location (BIL).

RESULTS

SWB was associated with BIL. However, the hypothesis that individuals with left frontal injury would report lower SWB was not supported. Instead, it was observed that participants with injury to their right frontal lobe reported higher SWB than individuals with injury to other regions of the brain.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides initial exploration into the neuroanatomical correlates of SWB.

The question of drive vs. motive in psychoanalysis: a modest proposal

This essay explores the possibility of an alternative hypothesis to the prevailing psychoanalytic instinctual drive theory whose theoretical and clinical validity has been variously critiqued and challenged. Arguments are suggested in support of the concept of motive as a viable alternative theory to the drive theory and as a replacement for the traditional instinctual drive model. Issues discussed include the understanding of the mind-body relation, the meaning of psychic determinism and overdetermination, the opposition of drive vs. motive (and the related distinction of cause vs. motive), the meaning of psychic energy, and the difference between the concept of drives as the source of all mental energy and the concept of personal agency. The discussion concludes with some observations on the clinical implications of these concepts.

Mind-brain and consciousness in psychoanalysis

Understanding how the brain produces conscious mentation is vital to the prospective integration of psychoanalytic and neuroscientific study of the mind-brain relation. This essay explores some of the current opinions, based on recent neuroscientific research, regarding origins of consciousness in the brain. Areas explored include levels of consciousness, waking versus dream consciousness, and issues of consciousness and self-organization in split-brain studies. Some tentative suggestions are made regarding clinical implications of this perspective.

Narcissism as motive

This essay proposes replacing the traditional concept of narcissism as derived from the theory of drives with a concept of narcissism that is concerned with motives and their correlative meanings-specifically, motives connected to self-organization, self-preservation, self-cohesion, self-valuation, and self-esteem. The reasons for and the metapsychological underpinnings of a motivationally based theory are discussed. This revised motivational view proposes that narcissistic dynamics can be preserved and articulated in exclusively motivational terms. Developmental aspects are explored, including formation and functioning of the ego ideal and self-esteem regulation. Implications for psychoanalytic technique are suggested in discussions of case material.

Self and time

This article explores the meaning of subjective time and its implications for the understanding of the nature of the self in psychoanalytic terms. Subjective time, the time experience of intrapsychic life, is distinguished from objective time. Its development and evolution in the course of the life cycle are examined, and various aspects of its phenomenology explored. Implications for the understanding of the structure and functioning of the self, especially the combined influence of physiological and environmental processes reflecting the integration of body-mind in the time experience and self-organization are discussed. Some implications for the engagement of the self in the analytic process are suggested, particularly the focusing of therapeutic interaction in the present moment and the implications of the meaning of structural change in reference to the modification of the self-concept through the revision and integration of memory systems in the present interaction between analyst and analysand.

What if there is an ethical dimension in psychoanalysis?

The implications of an ethical dimension in psychoanalysis are explored, together with the questions whether and in what sense analysis has anything to contribute to ethical reflection, and whether and in what sense ethical considerations can play a role in analytic theory and process. As regards theory, analytic construction of an ethical agent would require a refocusing of structural and dynamic considerations in order to provide an integrative source of decision-making capacity to serve as the responsible agent in ethical deliberation, choice, and action. Suggestions are made for formulating the nature of the ethical agent in terms of a theory of motivation rather than of drive, and in terms of an integrative theory of the self. To the extent that analysis involves ethical considerations, the way lies open for dialogue and mutually enriching contributions of analysis to ethics and vice versa. Various aspects of the analytic perspective are explored that in themselves carry ethical implications or can be enriched by ethical reflection. Beyond theoretical considerations, the interaction between ethical factors and genetic, structural, and dynamic issues in clinical psychoanalysis loom as matters for future exploration.

Psychoanalysis and the Mind–Body Relation: Psychosomatic Perspectives

Psychosomatic medicine has been historically an important focus for psychoanalytic theorizing. The mind-body relation has special relevance for understanding psychosomatic conditions because psychological and psychodynamic factors are so intimately intertwined with physiological parameters that they cannot for all practical purposes be disentangled. Dualistic impressions of mind and body have given way to more integrated perspectives in which psychic and bodily processes are conceived of as operating within the same conceptual framework. Implications of a more integrated view of the mind-body relation are discussed in relation to emotions and psychosomatic symptoms, development of psychosomatic vulnerabilities, somatization, and alexithymia.

The Mind-Brain Relation and Neuroscientific Foundations: III. Brain and Psychopathology, the Split Brain, and Dreaming

In addition to the findings of neuroscientific research on brain function, reviewed in the previous articles (Meissner, 2006a, 2006b), contemporary findings relevant to the mind-brain relation derive also from the study of the underlying patterns of brain dysfunction related to various forms of psychopathology. Other information derives from study of split-brain conditions and from research on dream processes and their relation to brain mechanisms. Review of these research findings casts further light on aspects of the mind-brain relation and further substantiates a unified theory of mind-brain integration.

The mind–brain relation and neuroscientific foundations: I. The problem and neuroscientific approaches

Understanding the mind-body relation is crucial for any meaningful advance in the psychoanalytic understanding of the neurobiological integrity of the human person and of the interaction between psychoanalysis and the neurosciences. Recent neuroscientific research has contributed significant findings having important implications for understanding the mind-body relation. Here the author comments on some theoretical positions regarding the mind-body problem of brain researchers in terms of the monistic-dualistic alternatives. Furthermore, the author briefly considers some of the recent technological advancements that have revolutionized thinking specifically about the mind-brain relation.