Psychoanalytic treatment: A neurobiological view.

Abstract

We present a review of several hypotheses concerning the possible neurobiological correlates of the main processes involved in analytic therapy. Attachment theory may represent an interesting link between psychoanalysis and neurobiology. According to Bowlby's conception, interactions with parental figures during infancy lead to the formation of an "internal working model." This determines how the individual will relate with others and cope with stress throughout life. The patterns formed are in many cases pathological. The internal working model is stored as implicit memory, which is expressed independently of consciousness. Clinical improvement in analytic therapy ultimately depends on changes in the implicit memory system, which entails structural brain modifications. Implicit memory system changes may be related to alterations in explicit memory systems, which result from interpretative work. They may also occur directly as a result of the emotional experiences in the patient-analyst relationship.

Is psychodynamic psychotherapy an effective intervention for individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) of psychosis?: a case report

“…Nevertheless, there is a need to investigate how psychotherapies, specifically PD-P, influence neurobiology and may contribute to clinical improvement of psychiatric conditions 17 .…”

Efectos del estrés sobre los procesos de plasticidad y neurogénesis: una revisión

“…Las evidencias apuntan a que los mismos mecanismos que regulan los efectos de estrés crónico sobre los patrones de neurogénesis y de plasticidad en las diversas especies de mamíferos estudiados, ocurren en humanos y otros primates con una distribución por género similar (Arango, Kirkpatrick, & Koenig, 2001;Aydemir & Deveci, 2009;Bremner, 2006;Bremner et al, 2008;Brown, Rush & McEwen, 1999;Chambers et al, 1999;Cheniaux, Zusman, de Freitas, de Carvalho & Landeira-Fernandez, 2011;Coe et al, 2003;Lupie, King, Meaney & McEwen, 2001;Lupien et al, 1997;Lupien et al, 1999;Lyons et al, 2010;McEwen & Sapolsky, 1995;Mitoma et al, 2008). Se sabe, por ejemplo, que jóve-nes sometidos a abuso y maltrato infantil o criados por madres con sintomatología depresiva presentan amígdalas de mayor volumen (sin cambios en el volumen del cuerpo estriado o del hipocampo), en comparación con jóvenes que han crecido en condiciones normales (Lupien et al, 2011;Tottenham et al, 2010).…”

When Unconscious Wishes Become Laws: Policing Memory and Identity in Israel and Palestine

“…5 In contrast, however, tolerance toward Israel's actions, including its flagrant breach of international laws, resolutions and treaties seems to be waning, as is the moral and financial support of its strongest ally so farthe American Jews. 6 Recent empirical research on the "dual" explicit and implicit components of information processing has largely supported the psychoanalytic framework for the independent examination of the avowed and enacted aspects of motivation and behavior (see recent reviews in: Arminjon, 2011;Cheniaux, Zusman, de Freitas, de Carvalho, & Landeira-Fernandez, 2011;Cohen, 2011a;Fosshage, 2011;Norman, 2010;Olds, 2012;Schultheiss & Brunstein, 2010;Talvitie, 2009). This "unified" framework might be useful in understanding Israel's defensive actions in the service of preserving its self-image as a liberal democracy of an exceptionally enlightened and moral character, while at the same time evincing chronic hypervigilance, aggression and ideology-bound reality perception.…”