Best Neuroscience and Psychoanalysis

The frame-of-reference problem states that in explaining memory functions we must make a clear distinction between observable behavior and the internal brain mechanisms that, in the interaction with the real world, lead to a particular behavior. This implies that behavior cannot be reduced to internal processes, nor to brain processes for that matter. Doing so would be to commit a category error (to use a philosophical term). This specific appears simple, ; however , it truly is a lot more shocking there's good confusion inside books about it problem.

Applied to memory, it implies that a clear distinction must be made between the theoretical construct and underlying mechanisms responsible for mediating between the past and the present. Ashby’s concept of memory is neutral to the mechanisms by which it is implemented in the organism. In biological organisms the mechanisms are to be found at the level of neural plasticity, whereas in artificial systems such as robots or
computers they are situated at the level of switching circuits implemented in silicon. Another example would be immune systems, which can also be described by invoking the concept of memory in the interaction of the organism with environment . In all these cases, it makes sense to use the concept of memory.

We can only describe on an observable level when and in what interactional context Mr. X was able to “remember” his unbearable bodily state from his first weeks of life. Our observations are exclusively based on the psychoanalytical situation (analysis of Mr. X’s behavior, feelings, and verbalizations, the analyst’s countertransference reactions after the summer break, etc.)–we never had the possibility of “looking straight into Mr. X’s brain,” and thus cannot know what neural and neurophysiological processes had been activated when Mr. X was able to remember the childhood experiences. This differentiation seems simple. Nevertheless, you can often find a confusion between the level of description of memory processes and underlying brain mechanisms in the literature.We all ourself manufactured this group error in the above-mentioned 1986 papers.

Some authors have tried to ferret out the mechanisms underlying memory in biological systems. It is important to emphasize that these mechanisms should not be seen as “being” the memory, but rather as implementing those processes which, as the organism interacts with the environment, lead to behavior that we try to explain by invoking the theoretical notion of memory.