The goal of this course is to familiarize ourselves with the material, neurological sources of all our psychic reality. The way we are wired determines what we see, how we interpret what we see and how we behave in reaction to it. Knowing the mechanics behind the ever changing intricacy that is our mind, is a core aspect of working with mental suffering, the latter being something we can define with great precision neurologically, and which we can only change using our most sophisticated brain tool: speech.
Neuroscience today is at it's most exciting time ever. We have brain imaging techniques that can see each neuron, synapse, spine and their connections. One can pinpoint exactly where in the hippocampus stem cells birth neurons awaiting use to form new neural pathways. We will also see how mental suffering comes about in terms of brain functions, and why talking is the only activity that can alleviate it at a neuronal level.
In 1895 Freud started a "Project for a Scientific Psychology", which he quickly abandoned realizing that the neurology of the time was insufficient to meet his goal of understanding mental phenomena physiologically. Today this has finally become possible, and this class will show how it works.