Science, Psychoanalysis, and the Brain Space for Dialogue

Science, Psychoanalysis, and the Brain is an invitation to a space for dialogue where reflections on neurophysiology are expressed with and guided by depth-psychology in mind; a space where neurophysiology resumes its traditional humbled stance towards matters of the psyche, and where the intellectual autonomy of depth psychology is acknowledged. The author leads the reader through the terrain of methodological errors that have plagued recent reductive approaches, paving the way for a dialogue that is based on an alternative, relational approach. Neurophysiology is discussed on a high level of abstraction, enabling a genuine analysis of the organization of the brain through its relational interactions with the world. In this dialogue, where psychology provides a theoretical framework that contributes to physiology, both parties benefit. Neurophysiology gains important constraints and guidance in phrasing meaningful questions, whilst psychology gains further motivation to crystalize its multifaceted concepts. Both disciplines enrich the spectrum of metaphors available to them within their own discourses.

1. A lost dialogue; 2. Scales and constraints; 3. Language relations; 4. Relational objects in psychology; 5. Reflections on relational physiology; 6. Sempiterna temptatio.

Shimon Marom is a Professor and Head of Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.