HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article
Front. Syst. Neurosci.
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnsys.2025.1585619
This article is part of the Research TopicUnderstanding Neural Processing as an Integrated Intelligent SystemView all articles
Neural Network Modeling of Psychoanalytic Concepts
Provisionally accepted- 1Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, United States
- 2Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 3Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Techniques used over decades in brain-based neural network modeling are applied to understanding processes involved in psychoanalysis. Behavioral change is interpreted as a transition, using simulated annealing, from a less to a more optimal attractor in a competitive-cooperative dynamical system that includes analogs of the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hypothalamus, and the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. The article explores how psychoanalysis can facilitate the quest for the life that is as meaningful as possible.The resulting network theory allows for new understanding of several traditional Freudian concepts. The theory provides insights about the life and death drives. It also helps us understand object and narcissistic libido, and the contrast of healthy forms of libido based on autonomy versus unhealthy forms based on dependence. This inquiry relates to the balance between self-interest and empathy, mediated by various areas of the limbic system. It illuminates transference, which involves both an emotional and intellectual relationship between the analyst and analysand, mediated by cognitiveemotional interactions in amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex. Sublimation, or redirection of socially inappropriate urges toward more appropriate behaviors, is interpreted via lateral inhibition between representations of similar complex behaviors.
Keywords: neural networks, Psychoanalysis, Brain, EGO, Prefrontal Cortex, Amygdala, Hypothalamus
Received: 28 Feb 2025; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Levine, Aleksandrowicz and Verissimo Lopes. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Daniel Saul Levine, Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, 76019-0528, Texas, United States
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