You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
What follows is an attempt —hypothetical, exploratory, suggestive —to establish connections between the psychoanalytic theory of object relations and recent scientific investigations of the human mind-brain. Such connections may conceivably sharpen our understanding of and sensitivity to the tenacity with which the human animal clings to psychological conflict, as well as guide us toward effective methods of lessening stress and increasing contentment. In one or two places I depart from the mainstream of my theoretical discussion to offer concrete ameliorative suggestions. Admittedly, these are made in passing and are designed merely to indicate the direction from which practical methodologies may derive; also admittedly, they reflect my persistent interest in concentrative and meditative practices. While I take full responsibility for these remarks, I would not have them distract the reader from my central purpose as described in my opening sentence above. As far as I can tell, efforts to tie object relations theory to physiological studies of the mind-brain have not been made hitherto. If this article manages to provoke thought, and perhaps further investigation, I will be satisfied.
When it comes “to essential structures,” human brains are strikingly alike, “in brain after brain” (Harth, 1983, p. 82). However, when it comes to the “microstructure” or to the “fine texture” of individual brains, significant variations exist universally, in every case. Although everyone possesses a neocortex, and although everyone's neocortex is similarly constructed and located, the precise number and position of synapses within the neocortex differs —not merely