Neuroscience and psychoanalysis

Abstract

The paper presents a description of some associations among neuroscience and psychoanalysis. At present, there is a co-operation between those two branches of knowledge, which developed the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society, as a result. The father of psychoanalytic method of neurosis treatment, Sigmund Freud, believed in the supportive function of psychoanalysis in the course of pharmacotherapy treatment. Neuroscience, owing to the development of methods of neuroimaging of the structures and functions of living brain, discerns neuronal correlates not only of mental disorders, furthermore of changes in psychotherapy. This paper presents a neurobiological basis of emotions and memory that are taking active position during psychotherapy, possessing a crucial component of its process. This article shows that gains of neuroscience allow comprehensive understanding of how psychoanalysis gains its results. Some critical opinions are also presented expressing that neuropsychoanalysis displays a very limited vision of psychoanalysis as relying only on biological perspective. Nevertheless, both individual psychoanalysis and group analysis remain valuable psychotherapeutic processes, which might be understood in a more deep and comprehensive way when gaining from neuroscience.