Where Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience Meet.

Neuropsychoanalysis approaches mental and neural processes as different perspectives on an interconnected system. Our work draws particularly on three theoretical foundations: Jaak Panksepp's affective neuroscience, Karl Friston's Free Energy Principle and Predictive Processing framework, and Mark Solms' neuropsychoanalytic synthesis. Together, these approaches provide a framework in which subjective experience, emotion, and brain function can be investigated in relation to one another.

A central focus of our work is the study of consciousness: How does subjective experience arise from the processes of the living brain, and what role does affect play in the emergence and organisation of mental experience? Starting from these questions, we contribute to the theoretical development of neuropsychoanalysis and to connecting psychoanalytic concepts with findings from contemporary neuroscience.

A further focus lies in translating neuropsychoanalytic knowledge into clinical practice. We investigate how neuropsychoanalytic models can contribute to understanding psychological suffering and its psychoanalytic treatment. In this way, we aim to establish closer connections between basic research, psychoanalytic theory, and clinical research.

The Institute serves as an international and interdisciplinary research platform. It brings together researchers and clinicians from different disciplines, promotes scientific exchange and collaboration, and provides a framework for joint research projects aimed at further developing the field of neuropsychoanalysis.