Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience

Abstract

Neuroscientists agree with the three Freud‘s theses: the unconscious is influencing the conscious more then vice versa; the unconscious develops before the conscious states; the conscious has very limited insight into the sources of its own wishes and acts. These are proofs for his famous statement »ego is not the boss in his own house«. Freud had for the cognitive neuroscience the similar role as Darwin had for the molecular genetics. He namely had some vague understanding of the basic laws of how the mind works, but only his spiritual grandgrandchildren could investigate the details, because big technological progress was necessary before that. Psychoanalysis and neuroscience are at the beginning of constructive dialogue and learning from each other in the discovering of mutual influences of psychic, social and biological factors. As an example the discussion about the connections between transference/countertransference and mirror neurons is presented. Searching for such connections is a big challenge for both sciences, so that both respect each other as partners in the process of learning and research.