An Holistic Developmental View of Neural and Psychological Processes: a Neurobiologic-Psychoanalytic Integration

The authors attempt to integrate several psychoanalytical and more recent neurobiological concepts regarding the development of the organism and emergence of psychopathology to explore further psychological constructs such as fixation and regression, as well as unconscious mental processes, in relation to their biochemical, physiological, and anatomical representations in the brain.

Abstract

The authors attempt to integrate several psychoanalytical and more recent neurobiological concepts regarding the development of the organism and emergence of psychopathology. They highlight the rough temporal correspondence of neurodevelopmental myelination cycles with stages of psychosocial development. They discuss concepts of critical periods and unique times of vulnerability to psychosocial insult and recurrence of critical stresses, gleaned from a multidisciplinary point of view, in relation to the occurrence of psychic aberrations. They suggest that it may be fruitful to explore further psychological constructs such as fixation and regression, as well as unconscious mental processes, in relation to their biochemical, physiological, and anatomical representations in the brain.