Morphic Echoes: Dream Telepathy in Psychoanalysis. An Explanatory Hypothesis

Emerging out of an era in which the ‘paranormal’ was viewed with skepticism by most and asquackery by the scientific community, Freud steered psycho-analysis clear of any association with telepathy or thought transference - phenomena which, however, were reported with some frequency within its domain of inquiry.Although he began by rejecting the whole subject, over the years and through personal experiences, he wrote several papers advocating that psychoanalysts embark on a serious inquiry of this phenomenon, approaching it as a normal rather than paranormal aspect of unconscious functioning.Yet despite the legitimization of psi phenomena through government sponsored research and the Princeton (PEAR) studies, psychoanalysis remained at odds with a phenomenon that appears most commonly and quite dramatically in Dreams. Insecurities about the “scientific” merits of our ‘talking cure’ pushed the subject underground, with only occasional papers emerging every few years which present evidence of telepathic material, but without offering major new theoretical insights.This paper, instigated by personal experience in my practice, searches for the operative roots of dream telepathy as a normal, deeply non-conscious resonance phenomenon, through broad interdisciplinary readings in quantum physics; the Holographic Paradigm; current neuroscience and paleoneurology; Prehistoric Art; developmental studies; psychoanalytic dream theory and group processes; literature on psi from the early 20’s, and our own psychoanalytic literature. From within the framework of a revision of Freud’s first topographical model viewed as a continuum from biological to semiotically mediated organizations of experience and modes of communication (Aragno 1997, 2008), the inquiry takes us to our distant evolutionary past when evidence of ‘representation’ first appeared, leaving traces of early hominid mental capacities. With support from contemporary neurobiology and a broad interdisciplinary base, relevant data is selected and synthesized, like pieces of a puzzle, drawing from this a comprehensive hypothesis for the roots of dream telepathy. The subject is approached from the perspective of a biosemiotic model of human interactions (Aragno, 2008) in which all unconscious communicative processes are viewed as natural rather than supernatural phenomena

Dissociation and interpersonal autonomic physiology in psychotherapy research: an integrative view encompassing psychodynamic and neuroscience theoretical frameworks

Interpersonal autonomic physiology is an interdisciplinary research field, assessing the relational interdependence of two (or more) interacting individual both at the behavioral and psychophysiological levels. Despite its quite long tradition, only eight studies since 1955 have focused on the interaction of psychotherapy dyads, and none of them have focused on the shared processual level, assessing dynamic phenomena such as dissociation. We longitudinally observed two brief psychodynamic psychotherapies, entirely audio and video-recorded (16 sessions, weekly frequency, 45 min.). Autonomic nervous system measures were continuously collected during each session. Personality, empathy, dissociative features and clinical progress measures were collected prior and post therapy, and after each clinical session. Two-independent judges, trained psychotherapist, codified the interactions\u2019 micro-processes. Time-series based analyses were performed to assess interpersonal synchronization and de-synchronization in patient\u2019s and therapist\u2019s physiological activity. Psychophysiological synchrony revealed a clear association with empathic attunement, while desynchronization phases (range of length 30-150 sec.) showed a linkage with dissociative processes, usually associated to the patient\u2019s narrative core relational trauma. Our findings are discussed under the perspective of psychodynamic models of Stern (\u201cpresent moment\u201d), Sander, Beebe and Lachmann (dyad system model of interaction), Lanius (Trauma model), and the neuroscientific frameworks proposed by Thayer (neurovisceral integration model), and Porges (polyvagal theory). The collected data allows to attempt an integration of these theoretical approaches under the light of Complex Dynamic Systems. The rich theoretical work and the encouraging clinical results might represents a new fascinating frontier of research in psychotherapy

The Mind’s Farthest Reach: Dream-Telepathy in Psychoanalytic Situations: Inquiry and Hypothesis

Emerging out of an era when the ‘paranormal’ was viewed with skepticism by the scientific community, Freud steered clear of associating psychoanalysis with dream telepathy or thought transference, phenomena which were reported quite frequently within its domain of inquiry. In later years, however, he advocated that sychoanalysts embark on a serious inquiry of this phenomenon, approaching it as a normal rather than paranormal aspect of unconscious functioning. Inspired by direct experience in my practice, this paper searches for the operative roots of dream telepathy. From within a revised framework of Freud’s first topographical model of mind viewed as a continuum from biological to semiotically mediated organizations of experience and modes of interacting (Aragno 1997, 2008), the inquiry ventures to our distant evolutionary past when evidence of ‘representation’ first appeared, leaving traces of early hominid mental capacities. Supported by contemporary neurobiology and interdisciplinary literature, relevant data is selected and synthesized, piecing together a comprehensive hypothesis. The subject is approached from the perspective of a biosemiotic model of human interaction in which all unconscious processes are viewed as natural rather than supernatural phenomena

Reclaiming the Lost Self in the Treatment of Bulimia Nervosa: A Neurobiological Approach to Recovery That Integrates Mind, Brain, and Body

The pathology of bulimia nervosa reflects the ‘dis-integration’ of the structure of the self within the distributed nervous system, resulting in the patient’s impaired sense of self and incapacity to sense self-experience. The twenty-first century definition of self as ‘an embodied, sensory-based process grounded in kinesthetic experience’ not only refutes the long-held myth of mind-body dualism, but also sheds light on the influence of neurobiological factors in disease onset and on how people make recovery changes within psychotherapy. The capacity to create, or reinstate, self-integration is built into the nervous system through the neuroplastic brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to thought, sensation, feeling, and motor activity. The introduction of neurophysiological (sensorimotor) and neurobiological (interpersonal, attachment-based) interventions into mainstream clinical treatment for bulimia nervosa increases exposure to embodied experience, fostering mind, brain, and body connectivity. By stimulating integrative neuronal firing and synaptic activity, top-down and bottom-up transactions enhance acuity in self-sensing, self-perception, and body image coherence, supporting the unification of the disparate self. The current focus of mainstream clinical eating disorder treatment on symptom reduction alone neglects the neurological underpinnings of the disease. This chapter describes a range of treatment options for bulimia nervosa designed to support sustainable changes at the brain level

The Mothering Thicket: Investigating the Impact of Transgenerational Trauma through Installation Based Print Practice.

The Mothering Thicket is a theoretical and practical investigation which explores the complexities of mothering, acknowledging the effects of trans-generational trauma through the process of art practice. It creates space for conversations and maybe transformation through the healing rituals of narrative and art production. It looks at the varied work of other artists—some of whom are mothers, all of whom have been subject to experiences of stress or anxiety. They included Australian artists; Sally Smart, and Izabela Pluta. Irish artist, Mary Kelly. Canadian Artist, Jennifer Linton, French/American artist, Louise Bourgeois and German Expressionist, Käthe Kollwitz. I have also collaborated with my adult child, dancer, Lorcan Power, as well as sound artist, Dylan Marélic-Mcintyre and cinematographer, Darwin Schultz. My own art practice drew on analysis and research to provide insight into affective art, aspects of mothering and familial attachment. Research was influenced by early feminist writers; Julia Kristeva and Adrienne Rich and by contemporary thinkers; Gail Weiss, Nicole Moulding, and Margrit Shildrick, psychologists; Donald Winnicott, Jacob B. Priest and psychiatrist, Gerrit Glas. I argue that the suppression of knowledge surrounding trans-generational trauma’s effects on mothering greatly impacts on societal expectations of mothering – presenting a gap in contemporary fine art for more challenging and complex depictions of difficult mothering. My experience of raising a child with mental health issues, having also been a child exposed to trauma, had given me a direct personal perspective of ‘motherblame’ and other negative constructions of mothering. This has revealed the need for a space where narratives of complex experiences of mothering can be contemplated without judgement; where mother, child and audience can feel safe, secure, seen, and supported to experience an art installation about mothering trauma. In my artwork, I applied principles of attachment theory to generate a safer environment where people felt supported and secure enough to contemplate memories of stress encounters, utilising my artwork to express the various narratives of traumatic experiences of mothering. Although art cannot resolve all mothering wounds it can provide a space, in the middle of the thicket, for the beginning of a conversation, or at least encourage a start to confronting all mothering experiences

Public policy, social marketing and neuromarketing: from addressing the consumer behaviour to addressing the social behaviour - a study on the assessment of Public Service Announcements’ efficacy by neuro-metric indexes and techniques

The overall aim of this thesis is to investigate to what extent marketing can be a useful science for the public policy in developing effective Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In particular, hereby a specific discipline will be taken in consideration: the one that merges marketing with neuroscience, that is the so-called ‘neuromarketing’, which - in order to assess the advertising efficacy - adopts biometric and neurometric indexes. The objective of this work is to gain insights into the above-mentioned fields (marketing, neuroscience and public policy) by: - reviewing previous studies, as well as topical literature; - exploring the latest case studies and best practises; - examining the traditional methods’ results for the assessment of the PSAs (i.e. polls, surveys, focus groups) in their evolutionary path (till arriving to birth of the the neurometric methods) Such kind of research has the purpose to identify the factors that are considered relevant to answer the ultimate research question: is it possible today, by using state-of-the-art neurometric indexes and techniques, to provide policymakers with precise guidelines for developing effective PSAs, so that marketing will be able to address no more just the consumer behaviour, but also the social behaviour? In fact, the goal of any advertising campaign is to convey a specific message and reach a specific audience: the consumers. But, when talking about PSAs, many things changes: the KPIs for the assessment of their efficacy are no longer the commercial ones (GRP, reach etc.), but rather the gain obtained in public health after the airing of the campaign. Consequently, the specific message will be a different ‘call-to-action’: no more an invite to purchase, but rather to change a (wrong) social behaviour or adopt a (right) civil conscience. Given these premises, it is possible that marketing could be invested with a precise responsibility in terms of lives saved and public health. The practical and managerial implications of the research are the following: EU policymakers and local governments will have the opportunity to dispose of scientific data and information about the society that might be transformed in guidelines for producing effective PSAs based on the inner audience’s insights. The originality of this research resides in having framed the new neuromarketing protocols in the traditional Consumer Behaviour theory, combining thus future and past of the marketing research

The Natural History of Truth: The Neurobiology of Belief

The pursuit of truth is woven into the fabric of every organism*. Any estimate of how best to survive and thrive in the reality in which we are immersed requires a sense of self, of the world, and of their relationship to each other. I wish to explore the idea that this pursuit has at its heart two complementary modes of reality testing utilizing separate cerebral systems which deal, respectively with the correspondence of experience with the world and the coherence of the experience with previous experiences: “is it real” and “does it fit?” At multiple levels of the nervous system, confidence in the validity of a belief depends on these two processes working independently and in concert. I wish to explore the biological significance of “belief” and “truth” from the integrative perspective of ethology. That is, the lenses of developmental biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and physiology will be focused on the process of extracting meaning from experiences. Two complementary cerebral processes ordinarily work in lockstep to provide us with varying degrees of confidence in the strength of ensuing beliefs: These processes involve an estimation of the validity of correspondence and coherence. Such estimations of validity guides the continuing reconciling of intentions, expectations, and actions at every level of the nervous system, invoking energetically more expensive higher levels only when lower levels are inadequate. A third cerebral area reveals itself only in extraordinary circumstances and appears to evoke “hypergnosia,” an overwhelming and sometimes ecstatic sense of truth. Correspondence” involves “reality-testing” of a percept, the cerebral representation of a fragment of experience [in the world]. “Coherence” involves “theorizing,” that is, reality-testing of a percept by how well it relates to previous and ongoing parallel and collateral experiences. As organisms develop, the “reference base” of previous experiences is enlarged and refined. A valid correspondence is consonant with a theory; a valid theory is corroborated by correspondences. In large measure, these mutually supportive cerebral processes are lateralized in different hemispheres of the brain. Their function is more-or-less balanced, but asymmetrical influence on confidence can be evoked by developmental circumstances that range from the willing suspension of disbelief to expectations and other cognitive biases that can undermine our effectiveness in the real world.

Explicating Emotions

In the course of their long intellectual history, emotions have been identified with items as diverse as perceptions of bodily changes (feeling tradition), judgments (cognitivist tradition), behavioral predispositions (behaviorist tradition), biologically based solutions to fundamental life tasks (evolutionary tradition), and culturally specific social artifacts (social constructionist tradition). The first objective of my work is to put some order in the mare magnum of theories of emotions. I taxonomize them into families and explore the historical origin and current credentials of the arguments and intuitions supporting them. I then evaluate the methodology of past and present emotion theory, defending a bleak conclusion: a great many emotion theorists ask "What is an emotion?" without a clear understanding of what counts as getting the answer right. I argue that there are two ways of getting the answer right. One is to capture the conditions of application of the folk term "emotion" in ordinary language (Folk Emotion Project), and the other is to formulate a fruitful explication of it (Explicating Emotion Project). Once we get clear on the desiderata of these two projects, we realize that several long-running debates in emotion theory are motivated by methodological confusions. The constructive part of my work is devoted to formulating a new explication of emotion suitable for the theoretical purposes of scientific psychology. At the heart of the Urgency Management System (UMS) theory of emotions I propose is the idea that an "umotion" is a special type of superordinate system which instantiates and manages an urgent action tendency by coordinating the operation of a cluster of cognitive, perceptual and motoric subsystems. Crucially, such superordinate system has a proper function by virtue of which it acquires a special kind of intentionality I call pragmatic. I argue that "umotion" is sufficiently similar in use to "emotion" to count as explicating it, it has precise rules of application, and it accommodates a number of central and widely shared intuitions about the emotions. My hope is that future emotion research will demonstrate the heuristic fruitfulness of the "umotion" concept for the sciences of mind