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As a result of SARS outbreak in Toronto, this year's Congress, on “The Unconscious in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis,” was swiftly relocated to New York. In spite of the many problems this must have caused, the conference was particularly smoothly organized.
At the well-attended journal launch hosted by Other Press, I was pleased to finally hold in my hands the double issue of Volume 4 and the first issue of Volume 5 of Neuro-Psychoanalysis (now published by Karnac Books). I am sure we all look forward to a more regularly published journal!
I am glad I decided to attend the optional Education Day held the day before the Congress, because this initiative was a true pedagogic success. Maggie Zellner's overview of brain anatomy and neurophysiology provided a perfect starting point. The comprehensive notes she provided allowed us to really concentrate on the lectures. Oliver Turnbull described the basic circuits of emotion and motivation (see Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 1, No. 1, for more on this). Yoram Yovell enlightened us about new ways of understanding the role of memory in trauma (see also Neuro-Psychoanalysis, 2, No. 2). Dr. Yovell also used his research to illustrate new insights on how flashbulb memories are built up. Finally, Mark Solms provided a neuro-psychoanalytic overview of Freud's structural model.
The main conference began with Drew Westen's talk on “Unconscious Conflict and Compromise; Affect Regulation and Connectionist Networks.” Westen held true to the integrative aim of neuro-psychoanalysis by illustrating the advantages and disadvantages of the concepts of the unconscious held by psychoanalysis and cognitive science. Howard Shevrin's counterpoint offered examples of research that uses subliminal processes to scientifically test the Unconscious.
Mark Solms then demonstrated that the prefrontal cortex can be looked upon as the neuroanatomical matrix for the ego. Solms explained that the pleasure principle actually represses what the primitive, arc