A Psychobiological Model of Conscious and Unconscious Brain Activity

Abstract

The descriptions of the physiological processes underlying mental activity presented thus far in this volume provide only the skeleton for a comprehensive psychobiological theory of mental behavior. Any system that is designed to provide a full explanation of human behavior must consist of more than a series of neurophysiological mechanisms. The attractiveness of Freudian psychoanalytic theory lies as much in its comprehensiveness as it does in any one of its specific explanations. Freud attempted to integrate the known biological principles of his day with the growing awareness of the importance of development and experience into a unitary concept that would still be compatible with clinical phenomena. As a consequence, psychoanalytic theory has a universal approach to human behavior that has probably contributed more to its general appeal than has any specific effort at scientific validation. It follows then that a broad comparison with the Freudian system might provide an excellent context in which to expand the implications of the psychobiological model of mental activity. Indeed, such an evaluation is only fitting and proper since it is mainly from psychoanalysis that the general interest in unconscious mental activity derives.