The Brain and Conscious Unity, 2015 Freud's Omega

In this provocative text, a noted neuroscientist reexamines Freud's posthumously published  Project of Scientific Psychology in the light of modern neuroscience. This expanded "thermodynamics of the mind" model includes robust conceptions of the cellular andneuralprocesses that accompany creation of consciousness and memory, their contributions to such conditions as depression, dissociative disorders, and schizophrenia, and implications for practice, from imaging to talk-based therapies to pharmacotherapy. Central to this construct is Freud's proposal of specific "omega" neurons as the most volatile carriers of consciousness between mind and brain, which is applied to current issues regarding complexity and executive functioning. In addition, the book is extensively referenced, allowing readers to investigate these and related phenomena in greater detail.

Among the topics covered:

Neural reductionism in Freud's "Project" and neuropsychoanalysis.

• Thermodynamics and brain self-organization.
• Conflicting information and the dissociated mind.
• The Cartesian model of the mind and the binding problem.
• Neuroendocrine and immune response to stress.
• The concept of omega neurons and modern chaos theory.

Rigorous, challenging, and occasionally startling, The Brain and Conscious Unity is a milestone in the neuroscience and mind/brain literature to be read and discussed by psychiatrists, psychologists, and neuropsychologists.

Psychodynamics as ‘Thermodynamics’ of Mind.- Mind in Conflict and Unity.- Consciousness and Neural Unity.- Stress, Conflict and the Brain.- Freud’s Ωmega and Self-reference.

Discusses the problem of consciousness raised in author’s previous book Brain, Mind and Consciousness: Advances in Neuroscience Research

Examines the problem of dissociated consciousness in connection with basic physics and information theory?

Presents cutting-edge psychology research at the intersection of philosophy and Freudian psychodynamic ?theory

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras