Nascent body ego: metapsychological and neurophysiological aspects.
For Freud, body ego was the organizing basis of the structural theory. He defined it as a psychic projection of the body surface. Isakower's and Lewin's classical findings suggest that the body surface experiences of nursing provide the infant with sensory-affective stimulation that initiates a projection of sensory processes towards the psychic realm. During nursing, somato-sensory, gustatory and olfactory modalities merge with a primitive somatic affect of satiation, whereas auditory modality is involved more indirectly and visual contact more gradually. Repeated regularly, such nascent experiences are likely to play a part in the organization of the primitive protosymbolic mental experience. In support of this hypothesis, the authors review findings from a neurophysiological study of infants before, during and after nursing. Nursing is associated with a significant amplitude change in the newborn electroencephalogram (EEG), which wanes before the age of 3 months, and is transformed at the age of 6 months into rhythmic 3-5 Hz hedonic theta-activity. Sucking requires active physiological work, which is shown in a regular rise in heart rate. The hypothesis of a sensory-affective organization of the nascent body ego, enhanced by nursing and active sucking, seems concordant with neurophysiological phenomena related to nursing.
Lehtonen
Johannes
J
Department of Psychiatry, Kuopio University Hospital, FIN-70211 , Kuopio, Finland. Johannes.Lehtonen@kuh.fi
Partanen
Juhani
J
Purhonen
Maija
M
Valkonen-Korhonen
Minna
M
Kononen
Mervi
M
Saarikoski
Seppo
S
Launiala
Kari
K
D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001828:Body Image; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology; D004532:Ego; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005619:Freudian Theory; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008678:Metaphysics; D009482:Neurophysiology; D011385:Projection; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012527:Satiation / Q000502:physiology; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology