Psychoanalysis and Affective Neuroscience. The Motivational/Emotional System of Aggression in Human Relations

This article highlights the evolutionary biological epistemology in Freud psychoanalytic theory. The concepts of aggressive and sexual drives are cornerstones of the psychoanalytic epistemological system, concerning the motivational/emotional roots of mental functioning. These biological roots of mental functioning, especially with regard to aggressive drive, have gradually faded away from psychoanalytic epistemology, as we show in this article. Currently, however, Neurosciences, and in particular Affective Neuroscience (Panksepp, 1998), can help us to have a better understanding of the biological roots of human mental functioning. The motivational/emotional systems studied by Affective Neuroscience can give a new epistemological foundation to the aggressive drive concept in psychoanalytic theory. Over the course of human evolution, motivational/emotional systems have played a role in social relationships and also in mental functioning. In this regard, among the various types of aggression (ANGER in Panksepp taxonomy 1998) that we consider in our article, inter-male aggression, also named Dominance motivational/emotional system, is that which regulates social interactions between sexually matured adults. This type of aggression acts in complementary connection with FEAR motivational/emotional system that regulate submissive behavior and social defeat, and the latter one is of the more important stressors. The interaction between aggression and FEAR motivational/emotional systems gives rise to agonistic behavior or dominance/submission motivational/emotional system, as we propose in our article. There is now a large literature that identifies in the dynamic of Competitive behavior, which is one of the main factors of mental illness. When social interactions activate the competitive behavior, the subject can perceive himself as “destined to victory” or “destined to defeat,” activating either behaviors or emotions connected to the Involuntary Defeat Strategy or Involuntary Dominant Strategy (Sloman, 2002), which we can find in many types of mental disorders, for example, mood disorders or anxiety disorders

Alexithymia, Metacognition, and Theory of Mind in Children and Preadolescents With Migraine Without Aura (MWoA): A Case-Control Study

Background: Some studies have demonstrated the high impact of headache and migraine in several areas of children and adolescents’ life. In recent years, there has been an increase in scientific interest in the relationship between migraine and emotional regulation, investigating the possible consequences of emotional dysregulation on physical and mental health. While some studies have been carried out on the relationship between alexithymia and headache or migraine (especially in adults), no data exist on relationship between Theory of Mind (TOM), metacognition, and alexithymia in children and adolescents with migraine. Methods: Children with diagnosis of migraine without aura (MWoA) (36 males and 34 females) were compared to a healthy control group (31 males and 39 females). The age range was from 8 to 13 years in both groups. All children completed the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children (AQC) for the assessment of alexithymia levels and the Domain of Social Perception included in the NEPSY-II to evaluate levels of TOM. Metacognitive development was evaluated with Io e La Mia Mente for children aged between 8 and 10 years and with Metacognitions Questionnaire for Children (MCQ-C) for children from 11 to 13. Results: There were no differences between children with MWoA and the control group in metacognitive abilities; only in the subscale “Negative Meta Worrying” of MCQ-C girls scored higher than boys, regardless of the group they were part of. Also, in the NEPSY-II subscale there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups. Children with MWoA scored higher in the AQC subscales “Difficulty Identifying Feelings” and “Difficulty Describing Feelings” than controls. Moreover, children between 8 and 10 years statistically differed from older children in “Difficulty Identifying Feelings” and in Total Score. Conclusion: Our data suggest that children with MWoA have no metacognitive and TOM problems compared to a healthy group. The experimental group showed higher traits of alexithymia, confirming what suggested by other studies in the literature. Future research will have to focus on migraine with aura and tension-type headache to evaluate any differences with children with MWoA

“Difesa, conflitto, affetto in psicoanalisi e psicobiologia”

Negli ultimi decenni, la scoperta di una precisa connessione neuroanatomica tra cervello e psiche ha contribuito ad abbattere il muro divisorio tra neuroscienze e psicoterapia, consentendo al contempo un affinamento delle metodiche diagnostiche e della valutazione prognostica. Nuovi modelli integrati hanno rivoluzionato l’indagine sui sintomi psichiatrici, chiamando in causa mediatori neurochimici e reti neurali. È proprio grazie all’apporto degli studi neuroscientifici che i vari modelli di psicoterapia possono ora incontrarsi nella condivisione di conoscenze sui funzionamenti BrainMind, diminuendo il divario fino a poco tempo fa difficile da colmare, tra metodiche e teorie di riferimento. Disturbi di personalità, disturbi affettivi, disturbo ossessivo compulsivo, disturbi d’ansia vengono indagati e approfonditi con un occhio alle loro basi neurobiologiche, in un’ottica di avanzamento delle conoscenze e delle prospettive terapeutiche. Psicoterapia e neuroscienze sono un connubio antico, anzi costitutivo, se si considera che colui che fondò la prima psicoterapia in ambito medico e scientifico fu S. Freud, la cui identità originaria era quella di biologo ricercatore

Aggressive and antisocial behaviour in childhood and adolescence. psychopathological and clinical considerations

In Childhood and Adolescence, conduct problems and antisocial behaviour are largely widespread and the most common reason for referral to public and private mental health professionals. Aggressive and defiant behaviour is not pathological itself, but is part of normal functioning, particularly at some specific ages, and a component of human nature. Therefore, deciding when aggressive or antisocial behaviour needs clinical intervention is a challenge, especially across developmental stages when the plasticity of mental functioning has an impact on the fluency and instability of the diagnosis. In this paper, we are going to consider psychological, emotional and interpersonal features of children and adolescents displaying a psychopathological conduct, beyond behaviour and acts, which, according to a clinical perspective, could be more useful and should address effective interventions

I sistemi motivazionali-emozionali: tavole sinottiche

Tavole sinottiche dei sistemi emozionali. Nelle tavole sinottiche vengono indicate le principali caratteristiche e funzioni dei sistemi motivazionali/emozionali quali la funzione evoluzionistica, le emozioni correlate, i comportamenti tipici associati, la localizzazione anatomica, le manifestazioni psicopatologiche associate, i neuro mediatori attivanti/inibenti e gli psicofarmaci e sostanze attive su tali sistemi

Obsessive–compulsive tendencies, self/other perception, personality, and suicidal ideation in a non-clinical sample

Research on the risk factors for SI in adults with OC tendencies is limited, and it is still unclear whether the association between OC tendencies and SI in non-clinical individuals exists. The goal of the present study was to test the associations between OC tendencies, self/other perception, personality traits, depressive symptoms and SI among a non-clinical adult population. We investigated an Italian sample of 337 adults, who were administered a set of self-report questionnaires to assess obsessive–compulsive tendencies, depression, self/other perception, personality traits, and hopelessness. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed. In the final model we found that personality, obsessive– compulsive factor and suicidal ideation were significantly correlated with each other: personality correlated negatively with obsessive–compulsive factor and suicidal ideation, while obsessive–compulsive factor and suicidal ideation resulted as strongly positively associated. Our results highlight the importance of assessing OC tendencies, negative self/ other perception and SI. Understanding their role and interplay will allow for the development and implementation of more advanced prevention and treatment policies

THE MARITAL LOVE RELATIONSHIP: Construction and Preliminary Validation on 610 Subjects of a Psychoanalytically Derived Inventory

Aim of this work was empirical assessment of the different components of couple relationship in a general population sample, through the construction and validation of an inventory composed of items based on psychoanalytic theories, the analysis of its factor structure and of the relationship of factor scores with other relevant variables. A group of 15 psychoanalysts developed 48 4-point items pertaining to the following areas, drawn from the most relevant psychoanalytic theories: Eroticism/Passion; Tenderness/Attachment/Care; Security/Fidelity; Dependence; Illusion/Idealization; Pregenital Aspects; Destructiveness; Play Capacity; Similarity/Difference of Partner from Parental Figures; and Alterity/Fusionality. After pilot administration to 100 subjects and refinement, the inventory was administered to 610 general population subjects (324 females) aged between 25 and 60, living together with a heterosexual partner for at least 12 months. Subjects were also administered a Marital Satisfaction Scale, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale Revised (ECR-R) and measures of relevant sociodemographic variables. Factor Analysis yielded five factors, explaining 34.89% of variance, labeled: Idealization/Persecution, Attunement, Mistrust, Erotic Fantasies, and Dependence. Attunement explained the highest proportion of variance, thus emerging as the most relevant dimension. Another prominent finding was the coalescence of items originally conceived to measure the presence of oedipal, pregenital, and destructive components in a single factor, Erotic Fantasies. Internal reliability was satisfactory for all factorial scales. Marital Satisfaction correlated positively with Attunement and Dependence, and negatively with Idealization/Persecution, Mistrust and Erotic Fantasies. Secure subjects appeared high on Attunement, Fantasies and Dependence; Avoidant subjects appeared high on Mistrust, low in Attunement, Fantasies and Dependence; Anxious subjects appeared high in Fantasies and Dependence, low in Attunement