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PubMed2000

Attachment and the regulation of the right brain.

It has been three decades since John Bowlby first presented an over-arching model of early human development in his groundbreaking volume, Attachment. In the present paper I refer back to Bowlby's original charting of the attachment landscape in order to suggest that current research and clinical models need to return to the integration of the psychological and biological underpinnings of the theory. Towards that end, recent contributions from neuroscience are offered to support Bowlby's assertions that attachment is instinctive behavior with a biological function, that emotional processes lie at the foundation of a model of instinctive behavior, and that a biological control system in the brain regulates affectively driven instinctive behavior. This control system can now be identified as the orbitofrontal system and its cortical and subcortical connections. This 'senior executive of the emotional brain' acts as a regulatory system, and is expanded in the right hemisphere, which is dominant in human infancy and centrally involved in inhibitory control. Attachment theory is essentially a regulatory theory, and attachment can be defined as the interactive regulation of biological synchronicity between organisms. This model suggests that future directions of attachment research should focus upon the early-forming psychoneurobiological mechanisms that mediate both adaptive and maladaptive regulatory processes. Such studies will have direct applications to the creation of more effective preventive and treatment methodologies.

Affect↗
PubMed2003

Imre Hermann's Freudian theory of attachment.

In this paper the author addresses some problems concerning the relation between attachment theory and psychoanalysis and sketches the outline of a Freudian theory of attachment, based on the ideas of the Hungarian psychoanalyst Imre Hermann. First, he elucidates the fundamental divergence behind the insults and misunderstandings that have dominated the debate between attachment theory and Freudian psychoanalysis: they differ radically in their conceptions of temporality and of the relation between psychopathology and human nature. Second, the author presents Hermann's work on 'Clinging--Going-in-search' (1976) as a theoretical model in which the findings of attachment theory can be integrated in a theory of psychopathology that is radically dimensional and that preserves the methodology of Freudian psychoanalysis. In the third part of the paper, the author discusses the question of whether Hermann's 'clinging instinct' is a primary instinct in the Freudian sense, and whether it is an interesting alternative for Freud's 'death instinct', as Hermann claims.

Freudian Theory↗
PubMed2002

Mutilation of self and object: the destructive world of the paranoid-schizoid patient and the struggle for containment and integration.

Using case material, I have described the three overlapping phases of treatment that occur with some borderline, narcissistic, or psychotic patients. These patients are dealing with paranoid-schizoid experiences of the self and the object. In this part-self, part-object world, many shifting, opposing, and contrary states of feeling and thought occur. Acting out is the first phase of analytic treatment. This is an externalization of persecutory anxiety, primitive guilt, and phantasies of annihilation. Projective identification, splitting, and denial are common and tend to make for difficult transference and countertransference problems. During the middle phase of treatment, pathological superego states and manifestations of death instinct color the analysis. The death instinct reacts defensively to the sadistic superego. Technically, the destructive internal conflicts created by these two elements must be clarified and interpreted in the transference. Flexible analytic management and containment are crucial supplements to ongoing interpretation. If these chaotic patients are able to stay in treatment for a period time, the acting out and the superego/death instinct phase gradually give way to phantasies of loss. This is still a paranoid-schinoid perspective of loss, making it persecutory experience. Although depressive anxieties do enter the picture, these still involve pathological anddestructive states of guilt and all-or-nothing threats of abandonment and attack. A case was presented in which the patient managed to continue into the third stage of analytic treatment, long enough to benefit frominternal, structure change. In this final stage, the patient "O" was able to acknowledge, work through, and integrate her prior feelings and phantasies of loss, persecution, and abandonment anxiety into more manageable and reality-based depressive functioning.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

[Not Available].

We meet two opposite concepts in the discussion of aggression. The first one claims that aggression is an instinctual drive, inborn with the human being. The second one claims that agression is a reaction. Both concepts have strong arguments. Freud's second drive theory introduces the death instinct, on the side of Eros, as the second basic drive of human creatures. Since Freud, most analysts have shared the opinion that aggression is an instinctual drive, but few of them accepted the death instinct. The experiments of Dollard and Miller regarding the relation between frustration and aggression underpin the reaction theory. The question is whether we can integrate the two concepts. The theories and observations of the Budapest school offer the possibility of a synthesis. Ferenczi already shows an emphasis on situations, which increase aggressive tension, for example in "The unwanted child and the death instinct," or in the "Confusion of tongues between the child and the adults." We find a coherent and original theory of agression in the work of Imre Hermann. According to his theory, aggression is a biological capacity of men, mobilised as a reaction in situations, which are founded in the development of the human drive system.

Aggression↗
PubMed1975

Interspecies aggressiveness of rats towards mice after the application of p-chlorophenylalanine.

The administration of pCPA (400 mg/kg) induces in 30% of Wistar rats the potentiation of interspecies aggressiveness and develops in them the instinct to kill mice. It can be supposed that 5-HT system inhibits aggressive behaviour in this type of aggressiveness. Applying mouse killing test it has been stated that cholinergic receptor blockers (atropine, scopolamine) suppress the predatory instinct towards mice in killer rats and the pilocarpine, the cholinomimetic, develops such instinct in rats which previously did not kill mice. The results of the mouse killing test indicate that cholinergic system affects this type of aggressiveness in rats. For the time being, it is difficult to state the correlation between 5-HT and cholinergic system in this type of aggressive behaviour in rats.

Aggression↗
PubMed1983

[Ideler's (1835) psychodynamic theory].

In 1835 the Berlin psychiatrist Carl W. Ideler developed a psychodynamic theory describing the laws and dynamics of instincts within the spirit and the interaction between spirit and intellect. There are striking parallels to the psychoanalytical theory of Freud. These show in the economic view of psychic incidents and in the characterization and dominance of the instincts within the mental system. All the more Ideler described psychic incidents and phenomenons which Freud called for instance topography, duality of instincts, defence, the fact of being conscious and the unconscious.

Germany↗
PubMed1998

[Types of impulse control disorders in children and adolescents].

The paper presents the results of examination of 61 patients aged 7-15 years with impulse-control disorders (drive) within psychopathy-like syndrome in slow progredient schizophrenia or in residual-organic disorders of CNS. 4 types of impulse-control disorders were identified: 1) drives concerning mainly instincts' disorders (enhanced physiologic drives, perversive physiologic drives); 2) drives due to disorders of will (the impulsive drives, the precursors of the impulsive drives); 3) the obsessive drives; 4) "social" forms of altered drives. In the group of schizophrenic patients prevailed disturbances of drives concerning the instinctive sphere (97.9%) and seldom "social" forms (2.1%) were ovserwed. In the patients with residual-organic CNS damage the "social" forms were quite frequent (50%) as well as disorders of will (45.8%), but disorders of instincts (4.2%) occurred rarely. Children and adolescent had often incomplete drives in the form of precursors of the impulsive drives.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

The rise, fall and resurrection of group selection.

The changing fate of group selection theory illustrates nicely the importance of studying the history of science. It was Charles Darwin that first used something like group selection to explain how natural selection could give rise to altruistic behavior and moral instinct. These instincts could be accommodated by his theory of evolution, he argued, if they had evolved 'for the good of the community'. By the 1960s, group selection had a new and vocal advocate in V.C. Wynne-Edwards. But this gave critics of the theory that selection might act on groups, rather than at the level of individuals or genes, a definable target, and from the mid-1960s to the 1980s group selection was considered the archetypal example of flawed evolutionary thinking. However, at the end of the 20th century ideas of group selection re-emerged as an important component of a multilevel theory of evolution.

Altruism↗
PubMed1980

[Proskynesis and servility as an expression of psychotic behaviour (author's transl)].

Proskynesis as an expression of submission, reverence and awe is deeply rooted in the religious and sociocultural history of man. It may be traced to the old phylogenetic submissive posture in animals, which is a pattern of behavior belonging to the group of survival instincts. Different forms of proskyneses and servility may emerge as an expression of psychotic behavior in man, reflecting a special stage of "archetypical" (C.G. Jung) consciousness. Archetypical conciousness is understood as a special step in the emergence of the human mind, thought and self-consciousness. The freedom of thinking--as the highest function of the human mind--is lost in every psychotic disorder. Archetypical consciousness with its lower stages of thinking may be typical for one kind of psychotic thinking disorder. Diagnostic problems may arise, if one does not recognize the drive of instinctive behaviour which lies behind the mere forms of human costums and religious rites.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

The psychoanalytic theory of depression. Part II--The major themes.

In this second part of a review of the psychoanalytic theory of depression the major themes of the theory, as they appear in the works of the major contributors, are discussed. It is difficult to approach the complexities and ambiguities of psychoanalytic theory in general, and the theory of depression in particular, without an historical perspective. Accordingly, the author decided to group the major themes of the theory under three headings: Instinct Theory, Structural Theory, Object Relations Theory. The themes included under Instinct Theory are constitutional factors, aggression and orality. Under the heading of Structural Theory those themes associated with the ego, with the concepts of narcissism and the self, and finally those associated with the superego are discussed. It is of note that under narcissism the work of both Kohut and Kernberg is considered, including its relevance to any investigation of depression. The concepts of object loss and object failure are discussed under the heading of Object Relations Theory. It is suggested that a psychoanalytic approach has much to offer both the clinician and the researcher in their attempts to develop a comprehensive theory to explain the protean manifestations of human depression.

Aggression↗
PubMed1983

Some developments from the work of Melanie Klein.

This paper discusses four areas of work in which several followers of Melanie Klein in Britain have developed some of the discoveries and ideas she initiated. First, extension of her concept of projective identification is briefly described, with emphasis on Bion's and Rosenfeld's stress on its communicative as well as its pathological aspects. Second, the extension of Klein's ideas about the epistemophilic instinct, on symbolism, and about projective identification is described in the work of Segal, Bion, Money-Kyrle, and Bick on the development of the capacity to think. Third, certain developments in Kleinian technique are described, with emphasis on the use of the concept of projective identification in analysing transference, and on the analysis of acting out in the transference, a trend contributed to by many Kleinian analysts but perhaps most closely associated with Betty Joseph. Finally, continued refinements in the analysis of the death instinct are briefly described, together with discussion of the changes these refinements have led to in ideas about the organization and relations of parts of the self and internal objects.

Death↗
PubMed1980

History and observation variables in assessing febrile children.

Attending pediatricians listed five history and eight observation variables on which they base their "instinctive" judgment (prior to performing a physical examination) of overall degree of illness of febrile children. Attending pediatricians and house staff observer pairs independently scored these variables in an overall assessment on 219 young, febrile children. The observation variable playfulness had the strongest correlation with overall assessment. Observer agreement in scoring the variables and overall assessment, while statistically significant, was only fair. When an attending pediatrician judged a child as moderately or severely ill on overall assessment, serious illnesses were four times as likely as when such a judgment was not made. When a house officer judged a child as moderately or severely ill, serious illnesses were less than twice as likely as when such a judgment was not made. However, only 57% of children with serious illnesses were judged by the attending pediatrician as moderately or severely ill on overall assessment. These data demonstrate the importance and limitations of "instinctive" clinical judgments about young, febrile children; the association between observation of complex behavioral patterns, especially playfulness, and overall assessment; and the need for further study of these complex behavioral patterns in order to define a reliable clinical approach to febrile children.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1980

Structural consequences of psychic trauma: a new look at "Beyond the Pleasure Principle".

Freud's theory of repetition compulsion is complicated by his reliance on a "death instinct" which has been justly rejected by most subsequent analysts on theoretical grounds. An alternate theory based on traumatic neurosis as a model is proposed here which does away with the death instinct concept, ordering the data instead in terms of levels of organization of structure. It is argued that repetition complusion functioning is qualitatively different from wish-fulfillment (pleasure-principle) functioning. The differences are clinically detectable and are explainable theoretically in terms of differences in organization of memory, drive, and affect. Psychic trauma interferes with the satisfactory linking of drive with experience, and thus with the attainment of the organization of mentation we designate as the pleasure-unpleasure principle. Under analytic influence the progressive structuration of memory, drive, and affect results in the conversion of repetition compulsion functioning into pleasure principle functioning, a process of importance in a wide variety of psychopathological conditions. These considerations lead to a revised theory of the structure of the id, and of the development of psychic structure in general. Primary process organization develops through experience, rather than being a given. The ideal of "unstructured energy" in the id is replaced by a scheme of levels of organization of drive-representatives.

Death↗
PubMed2005

Infant rodent ultrasounds -- a gate to the understanding of sound communication.

Components of the communication system between infant and adult rodents based on ultrasonic vocalizations (USVs) of infants are analyzed. USVs are most often emitted from a pup lost outside the nest in response to changes of: (i) body temperature, (ii) contact with adults/littermates, (iii) handling, and (iv) smell. These changes modulate the state of arousal and the emotional/motivational states and, as a result, USVs are produced. Acoustic properties of USVs seem to reflect the degrees of changes in arousal and emotion/motivation. Adult rodents are aroused by perceiving the USVs, locate the sender and show a phonotaxic approach to the sender. Acoustic properties of USVs in the frequency and time domains are described based on which adult rodents discriminate the USVs from other ultrasounds and take the USVs or adequate models of them as preferred goals of their phonotaxic approach. The preferred approach to adequate USVs is modulated by emotions/motivations, the sex of the receiver, hormonal states, experience with pups and neurotransmitter systems of the brain. The phonotaxis can be understood as the appetitive component of a pup-caring instinct. The consummatory act of the instinct is the retrieval of the lost pup. This retrieval is independent of USV presence, but it closes the communication loop activated by the emission of USVs. Communication with USVs can be used as a tool to investigate genetic and brain mechanisms of behavioral control.

Animals↗
PubMed1990

Child physical and sexual abuse: the roles of sadism and sexuality.

Based on the analytical concepts of narcissism and perversion and clinical material, an hypothesis is presented for the understanding of the mental functioning of the physically and sexually abusive parent. Relating the aggressive instinct to narcissism and the sexual instinct to perversion, two modes of functioning are presented which have some points in common and some diverging but which show the dynamics involved in physical and sexual abuse. Understanding the type of emotional relationship between the parents and the type of their emotional investment in their child allows us to see how the complicity of parents works against the child. This understanding implicitly gives insight into the structuring of the personality of the child-victim, who in turn undergoes the risk of himself becoming a physically and/or sexually abusive parent with his own children.

Child↗
PubMed1998

Testing the NMDA, long-term potentiation, and cholinergic hypotheses of spatial learning.

The problems and issues associated with the use of pharmacological antagonists in studies on learning and memory are considered in a review of the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, NMDA receptor-mediated long-term potentiation (LTP), and muscarinic receptors in spatial learning in the water maze. The evidence indicates that neither NMDA nor muscarinic receptors, nor NMDA receptor-mediated LTP, are required for spatial learning, although they might normally contribute to it. Detailed behavioral analyses have indicated that the water maze task is more complex than generally has been appreciated, and has a number of dissociable components. Naive rats trained under NMDA or muscarinic antagonism display sensorimotor disturbances that interfere with their ability to acquire the task. Rats made familiar with the general requirements of the task can learn the location of a hidden platform readily under NMDA or muscarinic antagonism. The ability of a rat to acquire the water maze task depends on its ability to apply instinctive behaviors to performance of the task in an adaptive manner. The instinctive behaviors undergo modification as the rat learns the general strategies required in the task. The evidence suggests that at least some of the plastic changes involved in acquiring the task occur in existing neural circuits situated in widespread areas of the brain, including sensory and motor structures in the cortex and elsewhere, and are therefore difficult to distinguish from existing sensorimotor mechanisms. More generally, the findings indicate the difficulty of inferring the occurrence or nonoccurrence of learning from behavior, and the difficulty of causally linking the action of particular receptor populations with the formation of specific memories.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Money as tool, money as drug: the biological psychology of a strong incentive.

Why are people interested in money? Specifically, what could be the biological basis for the extraordinary incentive and reinforcing power of money, which seems to be unique to the human species? We identify two ways in which a commodity which is of no biological significance in itself can become a strong motivator. The first is if it is used as a tool, and by a metaphorical extension this is often applied to money: it is used instrumentally, in order to obtain biologically relevant incentives. Second, substances can be strong motivators because they imitate the action of natural incentives but do not produce the fitness gains for which those incentives are instinctively sought. The classic examples of this process are psychoactive drugs, but we argue that the drug concept can also be extended metaphorically to provide an account of money motivation. From a review of theoretical and empirical literature about money, we conclude that (i) there are a number of phenomena that cannot be accounted for by a pure Tool Theory of money motivation; (ii) supplementing Tool Theory with a Drug Theory enables the anomalous phenomena to be explained; and (iii) the human instincts that, according to a Drug Theory, money parasitizes include trading (derived from reciprocal altruism) and object play.

Behavior, Addictive↗
PubMed2002

An early manuscript in the history of American comparative psychology: Lewis Henry Morgan's "Animal Psychology" (1857).

Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) is best known as the 1st ethnographer of Native American culture, but he also wrote on animal psychology, beginning in 1843, some 50 years before the founding of comparative psychology as a scientific discipline. Although not an evolutionist, Morgan argued that animals possess many human mental abilities, such as reason and moral judgment, and he rejected the scientific utility of the concept of instinct, a view that did not gain much currency in psychology until the rise of behaviorism in the 1920s. This 1857 manuscript, which is in the Lewis Henry Morgan Papers at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York, formed the basis for the last chapter of his 1868 monograph on the American beaver but gives additional information on his sources and an expanded criticism of the concept of instinct.

Ethology↗