Imre Hermann's Freudian theory of attachment

In this paper the author addresses some problems concerning the relation between attachment theory and psychoanalysis and sketches the outline of a Freudian theory of attachment, based on the ideas ofthe Hungarian psychoanalyst Imre Hermann. First, he elucidates the fundamental divergence behind the insults and misunderstandings that have dominated the debate between attachment theory and Freudian psychoanalysis: they differ radically in their conceptions of temporality and of the relation between psychopathology and human nature. Second, the author presents Hermann's work on 'Clinging–Going-in-search' (1976) as a theoretical model in which the findings of attachment theory can be integrated in a theory of psychopathology that is radically dimensional and that preserves the methodology of Freudian psychoanalysis. In the third part of the paper, the author discusses the question of whether Hermann's 'clinging instinct' is a primary instinct in the Freudian sense, and whether it is an interesting alternative for Freud's 'death instinct', as Hermann claims.     

Infants show enhanced neural responses to musical meter frequencies beyond low-level features

Music listening often entails spontaneous perception and body movement to a periodic pulse-like meter. There is increasing evidence that this cross-cultural ability relates to neural processes that selectively enhance metric periodicities, even when these periodicities are not prominent in the acoustic stimulus. However, whether these neural processes emerge early in development remains largely unknown. Here, we recorded the electroencephalogram (EEG) of 20 healthy 5- to 6-month-old infants, while they were exposed to two rhythms known to induce the perception of meter consistently across Western adults. One rhythm contained prominent acoustic periodicities corresponding to the meter, whereas the other rhythm did not. Infants showed significantly enhanced representations of meter periodicities in their EEG responses to both rhythms. This effect is unlikely to reflect the tracking of salient acoustic features in the stimulus, as it was observed irrespective of the prominence of meter periodicities in the audio signals. Moreover, as previously observed in adults, the neural enhancement of meter was greater when the rhythm was delivered by low-pitched sounds. Together, these findings indicate that the endogenous enhancement of metric periodicities beyond low-level acoustic features is a neural property that is already present soon after birth. These high-level neural processes could set the stage for internal representations of musical meter that are critical for human movement coordination during rhythmic musical behavior.

Research Highlights

• 5- to 6-month-old infants were presented with auditory rhythms that induce the perception of a periodic pulse-like meter in adults.
• Infants showed selective enhancement of EEG activity at meter-related frequencies irrespective of the prominence of these frequencies in the stimulus.
• Responses at meter-related frequencies were boosted when the rhythm was conveyed by bass sounds.
• High-level neural processes that transform rhythmic auditory stimuli into internal meter templates emerge early after birth.

     

Why the Trans Inclusion Problem cannot be Solved

Philosophia - What is a woman? The definition of this central concept of feminism has lately become especially controversial and politically charged. “Ameliorative Inquirists” have...     

Common principles of psychotherapeutic change: patterns of use

ABSTRACT

Many authors have proposed the existence of common principles of counselling and psychotherapeutic change. However, little is known about how practitioners use these change principles. A sample of 373 Czech psychotherapists and counsellors participated in an online survey and rated their use of 10 psychotherapy change principles in their practice over the previous year. The frequency of the use of the 10 change principles is reported. Furthermore, three principal components of the change principles were identified: exploration, acceptance, and understanding of clients’ experience; attending to clients’ own resources; and furnishing clients with new skills and advice. The use of these components was mainly associated with the practitioner's theoretical orientation. The implications of the component structure for psychotherapist and counsellor training and practice are discussed.     

Frontal Lobes and Ageing Effect on the P300 Component of the Auditory Event—Related Potentials

Dans cette étude, on a comparé le temps de latence et l'amplitude du P300 dans un échantillon de dix jeunes gens (moyenne d'âge: 20 ans) et de dix personnes plus âgées (moyenne d'âge: 68 ans). Comme prévu, le temps de latence augmente avec l'âge, mais le taux de croissance varie avec l'aire corticale prise en considération. L'amplitude baisse avec l'âge pour presque toutes les localisations cérébrales, sauf pour l'aire frontale où elle augmente. Nous avons aussi montré l'importance de ces découvertes pour la mesure du vieillissement du cerveau et pour le diagnostic des maladies cérébrales qui apparaissent avec l'âge.
In the present investigation we compared the latency and amplitude of the P300 in a sample of 10 young people (mean age = 20) and 10 elderly people (mean age = 68). As expected, latency increases with age, but this increasing rate varies depending on the cortical area analysed. The amplitude decreases with age over nearly all areas of the scalp, except for the frontal areas, where it increases. We also establish the importance of these findings in the evaluation of brain ageing and in the diagnosis of cerebral diseases that appear with age.     

The art of healing and the many worlds of time

This essay is a contribution to the understanding of the difficulties involved in integrating biomedicine and holistic medicine. The phenomenology of the perception of time as described by Mann, Siegler, and Osmond is postulated as underlying the different orientations to the practice of medicine.