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Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspective

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Neuropsychodynamic Psychiatry

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Abstract

Neuropsychoanalysis is a young discipline that developed in the last 20 years. One leading proponent was Mark Solms followed by others like Eric Kandel, Heinz Boeker, and Georg Northoff. A central issue in neuropsychoanalysis, as in psychoanalysis, is the concept of the unconscious. This can be understood in various ways of cognition and, relying on Jaak Panksepp, affect and emotion. The unconscious has been associated with traumatic memories in psychoanalysis; neuropsychoanalysis extends this by associating unconscious traumatic memories with memories in the sensorimotor system of the body rather than the cognitive functions of the brain. This suggests convergence between neuropsychoanalysis and embodied cognitive science as it is also illustrated by a case report whose implications for the transference between analysand and therapist are pointed out. It is concluded that neuropsychoanalysis can draw on many fields including neuroscience and embodied cognitive science to sharpen and more detail the concept of the psychoanalytic concept of the unconscious.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sigmund-Freud-Institut, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber

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  1. Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber
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Correspondence to Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Heinz Boeker

  2. Hospital of Psychiatry-Psychotherapy-Psychosomatic, General Hospital Frankfurt, Teaching Hospital of the University, Frankfurt, Germany

    Peter Hartwich

  3. Mind, Brain Imaging, and Neuroethics, Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Georg Northoff

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Leuzinger-Bohleber, M. (2018). Unconscious: Psychoanalytic Perspective. In: Boeker, H., Hartwich, P., Northoff, G. (eds) Neuropsychodynamic Psychiatry. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75112-2_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75112-2_6

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