The Neurodevelopmental and Neurofunctional Basis of Intersubjectivity

Abstract

Modern neuroscience has advanced significantly since Freud ’s initial Project for a Scientific Psychology, in which he hoped to apply scientific principles to the emerging discipline of psychoanalysis. As such, a sophisticated quest to understand the human mind—over the last 125 years—has led to the discovery of a radically different landscape than that which Freud had envisioned. In this regard, multimodal scientific investigations have openly questioned the validity of Freud’s concepts: “[Modern] science not only fails to support the central tenets of Freudian dream theory but raises serious questions about other strongly held psychodynamic assumptions including the nature of the unconscious mind, infantile sexuality, the tripartite model of the mind, the concept of ego defense, free association and the analysis of the transference as a way of effecting adaptive change”. Moreover, recent advances in neuroimaging and neurodevelopmental research have profoundly advanced our understanding of the key areas of “the relational brain,” the substrate for two-person relational psychotherapy. Herein, we will briefly review the historical developments of two-person relational psychotherapy, and in doing so, we will detail the specific advances in developmental psychology. Additionally, we will review the key theorists and researchers whose work and behavioral experiments made possible the neurophysiological investigations, which have, in turn, given rise to our nascent understanding of the neurophysiology of attachment and intersubjectivity.