The New Wounded From Neurosis to Brain Damage Catherine Malabou ‘Translated by Steven MillerAM rigs sera Nour af hspblation me ‘ep we nae rama ny [ea ny msl meron a ‘ea or ayers fo el ttn intl res ine the rps of the push. Thi wk an rigily pale in rec Cadetine Munn Lerma hu © aa Eins, 0 Ouagypb eecorc d Aninre plchig e hens Cone Nant di Le Thi wa ha ben publ wth dh amine o French Minaty of Clre‘Nainal Cater ree Bk rin Unie Pros ey oe [paren tar ry cra on terol emi adam Unive Pron a pba ts es in ‘spate nay aoe alain ceri bvks aay of Congr Ca [eran Mens Engh Lun unde y Sven ile. eon (st ig) lasagne) ISHN gps halk pp) —ISBN spboseytts a-ak "Dacca, # Rn hows Tie gio alagsysor2 sete te Unit Sse of ea Fast live In nsary of Andee taeProbe Incodution TInerodutin: The “New Maps" of Causligy (Cerebral Auto-Affection rain Wounds: From the Neurological Novel to the Thester of Absence dentgy Withou Precedent Psychoanalytic Objection: Can There le Destruction Without a Drive of Dexuction? Tnredesion: Freud and Presisting Ful Lines What Is Paychie Event? ‘The "Libido Theory" and the Otherness ofthe Sexual to self Tumaic Neurosis and War Neurosis in QuestionCome 4. Separation, Death, the Thing, Freud, Lacan, and the Missed Encounter nr 4. Neurological Objection: Rhabiliatng the Event a Intsaduction: Remission a he Rik of Forgetting the Worst 1. The Equivciy of Reparation: From Elasticiryto Resilience 174 to, "Toward Pasty ofthe Compobion ro Repeat 189 4, The Subject of the Accident 203 Conelion m1 Neer ar Bibliography M5 ‘he ust hak Pe ote er since she ied, how alone and abandon te el! Ob! anata ands er thi very mint, en ato father tn core, but where iit? How can T have forgone the ae? oy shel coins me! How can hae forge hel thee mont Ite “rk, won find er, ee wind stopping ie rom aang: bathers ny ache waking fo of ery oto him" Where Grandmother “Till th ade sae leigh Te ite cet a's goal nnd Noy my chery te, "yu an ret aed. Her mae nets erin, We send ery slau fom ane oes they can by ber the Ire sc ir nerd of She oceines ns what become of you. She evn been old ht you were going wo wits book. She seted plese She sped ay asec” Thuanee eoust, Sa and Gomer reo personal experiences atthe origin ofthe present work. nthe frst plc, eis books a Belatl reaction othe ordeal of deperonaiztion to which my grandmother was subjected as Alzheimers disease operated upon her Tsay “operated” because i seemed to me that my grandmother, ‘of a eat, she new and ulkinate version of er, was the work ofthe disease, is opus, is own scupeure, Inded, his was not diminished person in font ‘of me; the sume woman weaker thin she ose tobe, lessened, spoiled. No this was a swanger who did't ecognize me, who didnt recognize here ‘because she had undoubredly never met her before. Behind the fair halo ofa he tone of her vics, che blue of her wy the abuclstaly incon testable presence of amcor ele. This other person, however, wi stung absent My grandmother no longer cared abou anything anymore; she Wssi Pre inition, detached, col In the en, she spent whole das eeasing and tacresing 4 corner of her blanket "Why wasn I comforted by this rum of events? Af all, o ese lie in this way, to die before being dead, isn his the most beau way to ‘i? "To dew death itself No longer to know oneself mors? No longer to have ro die iv peor? Such thoughts, however, brought me no solace. Twas perfeayaware-akog with everyone who miu endure he sume spectacle fn ther own lves—that this absence, cis dsafecon, this strangeness to onesel, were, without any possible doubt, the paraxial signs of pro found pain. ater, leaned that Alhsimer’ deus ia cerebral pathology Coul be thatthe brain sues? Could it be that this suffering manifests tein the form of indfernce to soffering? Inthe form ofthe inabili toexpoi- nce sufleringas one own? Could tbe that eereisa typeof ufering chat (cestes 4 new idenig, che known Ment ofan waknown person who ‘offers? Could ie be that cerebral suffering specie such slering? Anntbr Relation 19 Pbiloaphy Teook mes lng ine to understand how the second more fr this book, which pertains to the evolution of my relation to philosophy, is related to ‘ny grandmother illness Fr many yeas, sy work hasbeen devoted tthe concept of “plastic.” which [encountered for the ss ime in Hegel’ plilosophy. However, the theorecal elaboration of this concept led tne gradually co enlarge the feld of my investigntions beyond cadconsl philosophy into differen domains of knowledge where the concept plays 2 decisive role—initallypaychosnajsis and chen cellular biology and "This show I became increasingly ners in the sal ofthe rani funsoning, is organization and ts pathologies. This expansion of my fed of research had eal repercussions upon my though, to such an extent that Tean now say thc there is a dine “befaee” and "afer" of my incursion ino the domuin of neuroscience. Not chat Ihave become a “cognitist” or ‘“redacsonist” On one hand, remain fundamenlyacached! to cont- ‘ental philosophy onthe ther, Ido not see any danger (what would be ‘adangered by what) inthe advances ofthe narra philosophy of mind {consider it incontestable, from now on, shat the structures and opera tions ofthe brain, fa from being the glimmerles organic suppor of wir lig, are the only rn for proceses of cognition and thought and chat there i absolutely no justifeaion for separating mind and brain, But Ts less concerned with these cognitive processes than with the affective bai, the conductors of emotion in the brain, this decisive aspect of cerebral scvity that hasbeen relegate to the shadows for too long, bu that con remporay neurologists tirelessly help uso discover. There ae even a large ‘umber of psychoanalystsroday who know nothing or pretend to know nothing about this fective dimension ofthe bra. Imagine my suprise when, after giving a lecture on che relation between the peyche and the bin a famous Parsan hospital toa room flo psychoanalyst, I was sharply chastised for misreading Lacan—who, ie was objected, ha already said everything was saying. Could it be tha psychoanalysis hasnt aid everything on the subject of pychicsfering? Could ie, precisely, thi i ignores the suffering ofthe bin and, along with ix, dhe emodive and emeconal dimension of the bri ‘Obviously, we ean no longer consider the brain a he simple way stain forstimal widhou essential relation to psyehic life. Aleheimer’ disease lke many pathologies, s not merely a neurodegenersive disorder but abo 3 psyehicauac in the sense chat icimpinges upon the dent ofthe subjext ‘nl overcuashisafetve economy. ‘Could it be tha this disease finally brings out ino the open a sype ot lesion tha psjchoanayss has never taken into account? Could it be chat it ranifess—a posterior, a ie were—ac re of firing? Could i be hat there ate new wounded whoin psychopathology his never encounter before now? 1 shoud mention shat during ny grandinosher® ill her geriatric crs lucy did not offer any paychotherspeutic services, The patients were ‘cersnly not mistreated, but twas clear chat they were not considered to be subjects endowed with paycie life and that no one was prepared to respond ta their despair other than by numbing it with medication. As for myself andthe members of my family, we had no idea how to behave ‘We st inthe rom, fightened, uncomprehending. We hastened eo talk co sn gain nea hing ifn well ae egsic Pate | understood too lite tha tenderness would have been the only wy «0 respond thatthe incoherence of my grandmother behavior and her visible indifference were slo reactions to the shock of hospalizaion, IFT under- Mood more clearly, I would have tied on occasion eo take het hack home fora few hours. I would have given her the chance wo regu he fil surroundings, her “things” The poine would not have been absurdly 10 help her to “efresh her memory” butt allow her cally and without any espetitins to perceive “her own absence.”* “didnot lnow what odo and my books were af aa hel Piteophy had ven les way than prychoanalsis. No metaphysical accoune of fight beyond the world had anyhing co do the desertion of people with brain disease. Neither the Pltonc theory of dhe sol’ aspiration to leave the ‘ody or dhe existential thinking of nsiery, che emptation of suicide is- ‘orientation, o boredom, could shed light on thisspcitic frm of disposes- sion Ie mus be sated outeight No philosopher has ever approached the immense problem of cerebral sfering. ‘One most also recognize that neither paychoanalyss nor philosophy’ has proposed an approach to sich suffering char would be at once episteno~ logis, clinical and metaphysical, We ae supposed wo be satisfied with the Jimplcc diagnosis of vegetative sts, Everyone thinks it without daring to say italoud: my grandmother, slong with ll her companions in misforeune, ‘nad simply become “vegetables” ‘The Tine of Bask For many years, something within me quiedly revoke gait this ype of judgment. Tay, it seems thatthe pin caused by ny grandmothers tnd he transformation ofmy’relation wo pilosophy were inimately ink [My workon plasticity was peshapsa way ofshedng conceptual ight pon the type of pryehi suffering experienced by a loved one, suffering that oul do nothing about, and that escaped che purview ofthe analytic at- egores a my disposal Might the new neurobiological orientation of my pilosophicl research on plasueagy—the threefold movement of recep, domain, a sie Taion of form —make it posible to recognize the importance of the ere- bral poyehe that iin the process of aiming its rights? To welcome, on the level ofthe concep, the “new wounded"? To see these sufferers as some thing other than Sure of the unthinkable? The wah i be mctnrpbai that makes warengunabe sj merge fom a tli and exemple. Te wank is tsontinone—mact fin eubder—eansfrnation,throagh which a diated identi dees former refeene points tno Inger ecoizs ws its ead fist pon te wih ochre ofa aber ward.” ‘Migh there be 2 typeof plastic that, under che effects ofa wound, rete certain far of ing by ing previo exiting iden? Might there be, inthe brain, a destructive plasticiyy—the dark double ofthe posi tive and constructive plasticity that moulds neuronal connetions? Might such plasticity make form through the anihiation of frm? 1 decided ro begin a boo: in which philosophy, psychoanalysis, and con- temporary neurology would eneer into dialogue with one another. The tusks of och dialogue would be to recognize and identi cerebral ser Inga pychi suffering, to undertake a redeition ofthe psyche itself un ‘the bats ofthis recognition, and vo raise the question ofthe brain a8 the source ofthe formations snd deformations of identi. “The uigency of these tasks belongs tothe future of philosophy and psy choanalysis themselves, which ean no longer lg behind on question of the payee and the mind asing tbe Problem 1 gan to wrt this book at he moment when the dsp Betwesn ps choanajisand its detractors was gaining ices. L oe mr dela pach dpe had jst been published, and the media hal grabbed hold of is sccsations of mpostre,inefcieny fantasia definition ofthe psyche and disregard of neuronal reiiy? The necesury responses, like that of ssbeth Rowlinesc, gave voice to legitimate indignation. But other ‘ery interesting books had aio appeared eat proposed eo syathesie the ‘methods of psychoanalysis and neurology, showing tha the wo lds were pethaseither heterogeneous norirecociablen the meantime, French ‘ilosophers remined sere chou och mars or my pr, Tsoon realized that nothing es woul be required ay stan the cpl tartare of phpbb 0 hat neitherwi Pl sirulene atacks agains prychounalysis—as jstiied at chey might be in Cerin respects—nor certain paychoanalysts! vauned disregard for such track, nor the attempts ata hasty "synthesis" ofthe unconscious and new rons, are sufiint wo accomplish sch a task. Such 2 reinvention of psycho ology would ental both eorenation ofthe clinic an the revision of the very pilosophici basis ofthis reorientation. Before taking ies in dis- jute about method (analyte cure verons cognitive behavioral therapies). nd before “choosing” between metphysies and posivism, one must, humbly and rigorously, claborate the pablo posed by the confrontation between psychoanalysis and neurology today. “Toe Method Cetering aad Deo A problem snot a question but the abortion uf question. This labora tion paradosialy implies both a tring anda delualiation of the gion ill. ‘Atte center of my quetion les nwa. Along dhe detour ofthe ques: sion ies sur At the hear ofthe problem—that i, athe intersection of the ‘vo directions of queioning—Les rm. Casi I is ecesary resolutely to engage with the confronation ‘beween prychoonajis and neurology on iological grounds. Every py chopathology implies che elaboration ofa spf eig—albeic malkple and rated —of the disturbances that i adéreses. Accordingly in order fora rif dialogue between prychoanalyss and neurology tobe posible, ‘one must examine the ferent concepts ofthe eat of damage chat pr tains eo each science ad highligh their especve understandings ofthe relaon between cut and sound ‘er, From ny work onthe slash Limes neuronal architecrre and social hierarchy within the capitalist enterprise, I know that any approach to prychopathology consis apolitical gesture’ But lengthy justica- tions are required to substance this clam. For the moment, therefore, {will init myself wo ingle ustifiaion, the most pertinent othe present cetet The determination of rhc diearbenes—her-dfniton, ther nia picary, and thei thrapy—iabsayecouenporancos wit certain at or 8 tera age of wor Ted, ts impossible vo overestimate how much the present work owes to the pychitry of war Paychoanalyss is, above alla theory of confit, Preamble i which was largely elaborate in proximity tothe ont. The role of Wold ‘War within the evolution of Freudian though is well own. Ii ao well Jnovwn that Freud was clled ab an expert witness during the Wagner- “Inuregg wal in 1920, Wagner-Jaureg, a military pychiaeis, was accused ‘of having treed patients sfferng from war neuroses under the pretest that they were “simulators,” subjetng them ofradization type of ele twoshock teaumend. Frew reflections on chis supposed “simulation” brought wo ight the unconscious signiication of wa and the specific ans ery tha accompanies i. ‘My study ofthe relation benreen Freud and the logic and psychology of armed confrontation led me wo ead contemporary treaties on military phology Iwas undoubxedly this reading experience tat, i large mes sure allowed me to forge the lnk tha Twas looking to establish bern cen paychounalysis and neurology. “Taking inco consideration changes in weaponty and the vey form tla conic inthe course ofthe twentieth centr, the contemporary ychistry of war had ben compelled on is own, roasiilate che evolution that le fom what was called rumatc nears daring Freud ime co whit has more recently been elled PTSD, or ptroatic ses dire. Wat chix have more convincing explanation for dhe inabiliy of paychu- analysis to think this evolution, I believe, chan Le re mr dele phan “This explanation canbe reduced oa single word: sums Te night ben all he cons of the eventeth cenury and the dawning eveny-firstcen- ‘ary have shown-—that, for along time now, pychoanayss has ad ideo relevance to say on this subject. Tuma thu comes be cof te question ‘Buc what isthe relation betwesn war trauma andthe example I bey wich a patient with Alzheimer diene? To answer this question, Ihave to extend my digression on wat. Bruno Berelheim’s methods—by which mean the spe of gaze that he brought to dhe study of auc children are quit thoughe provoking. He was struck by sinilarites inthe behavior of autistic and of “musulmans" in the concentration campe—these min who, having become indiferent to everything, let themselves de Instead of detain himself wo the seudy of autism asific were an ioated patholys, without relation to any form of social conduct, Bene asked hse ‘whether autism was somehow a response ro the teat o exercise of elles~ tive violence, form of reaction ro oppression, ‘Bewelhin declares: "For myselfitwasthe German concentration cn» that led me to eellect onthe most personal, immediate ways on what kindsih Pal of experience can dchunanize, I hal experience being atthe merey of forces that seemed beyond one ability co infiuence, and with no knowledge ‘of whether or when dhe experience would end. Iewasan experience oftving iolated from fil and frends, of being severely estrited in the sending an receiving of information. Ae the same time I fl subject to neat total tanipalation by an eavconaenc that semed focused on destroying my independent existence, fot my Bi" Synthesizing Betlin’ experience with the teachings of che ereatses| on military psychology, i seemed tha i would be legitimate to form ‘the hypothesis chat pints with Alzheimer’ disease of, more yenerall, patients with brain lesions, behave as if they are suffering ffom ur "ow woul ite posible not wo be struck by the incontestable similarity becween the bchaviors of uch patents and those of soles safesing from PTSD-—Vieram veterans (or whom the category of PTSD was devised) or, more recently, solders who have fought in fag. bn particu, they all ‘Sophy the sume affective coolness, the same desertion, dhe same iniffr- ‘ence atociate with a tou metamorphosis of ident: Bt this compurison works in both diretons, Indeed he behaviors of piens with war tau, whether oF nat they sufer From patent head rounds, are comparable in every respect to those of patients with bain lesions The work of contemporary neurologists helped me to discover te ipo fearing thee of polis ravns fom ee es of organic. teva ll rua of any kind impacts the cerebral sites chat conduct emo tion, whether it isa mater of modifying the configuration of such its or, ‘more seriously, rupering neuronal connections. Even in che absence of any patent wound, we know today’ that any shock, any especially strong psychological stress or any cute ansieny bvaysimpaess the afer ae— this unrecognized part the psyche. Tore to orienta confrontation berween psychoanalysis and neurology today, therefore, thelist step would be the redefinition of eauma. I here is abridge becween the ceebal and the psychic, in fat, ican only be reached by exploring the sensitive zone of the emotional brain, which constitutes secret economy of fet and the dark core of destruc tive plasty. Such an economy must be arculaed with and against the teaditional coneepeof the unconscious. ce Hypuoses ‘There are thece hypotheses deriving from che preceding conclusions chat sxrucrue this book: 1. From sex tothe brain. leis posible ro deduce the existence of yb agin of eens cerebral eentaity—whose specific easy teradicall diferent rom cae which psychoanalysis had eucidated Ie i thus important ro show—the principal wager of this book—that ever cell place sexual ova oitbn te prcopatolg Families of traumas. The analysis of this substitution supposes 2 fener theory ofruma that would ise funded ypon the ei fation of he ras be a of be new ned Be cnn 4 Destrctive plastic: The development ofthe preceding pots i supported by the hypothesis of destructive plasiciy—uncil now tinean ry pebaoals ba also arin thematiadby neurlgy that forms the payche through the deconstiscion of ident. “The goal of this boo i cither to lend suppor o some ligation paychoanaysis and thas to dedlare unconditional devotion to the next logis approich to psychic diurbances, nor on the canteay, re down the results of neuropathology with a cumbersome theoeeial appari ‘us, Through sistined dslogue berween the two disciplines, I simply ied to dink the new fees of sufering. ‘Many chings have changed since the period chat fdacus inthis buck. “The psychic suffering of paciens with brain disorders widely recognized today. T would ike 0 express my debs to Dr. Thierry Gllarda (HOpital Suinte-Anne, Pari), Dr. Laurence Lenfant (geriatric psychiatry, Dijon), and Dr. Olivier Laberge; and to thank the audiences at my leerres 2 Hopital Sainte-Anne and the Cit des Scenes, the journal LEncpbe, and the Inernational Nevropychoanalytie Society fr their help and thir confidence.os on Spy a opmIntroduction ‘The dtintion between sen fia” and "iin beeen “eae logical” problems ad “pryehooga ae "poyehisie ones” saneforn.te cal iertnce hat potest scan and medicine. eels base ‘gore of de eatonbeeren bri td ind “antonio pasasie, Daur Exar Enutin, Roa, ‘nthe Han Bais Cerbrlity and Sexuality: Cause and Event il low myself» invent one word and only one: erebiy. Aly hop x ‘thar suc barbarian will come to be accepted as themnark of concep Why inuroduce this word? It is neessiry in order to construct the analogy around which my entre discussion will real. Freud, as we know, distinguishes between evo related ways of understi ing *semaliy* The everyday understanding of sexy supposes that it consists of set of sexual practices and behaviors. The concept or ss= tle understanding of “sexual.” however, upholds ita a les—that «spec form few, Such a concept would ths function asa regulative apparaas designed to organize the phenomenal dispersion implied inthe ‘rerydeyunderetanding of mul.2 ti For Freud the ali to elucidate how thisapparatus works and ostab- tah the usa value of seaulty within the domain of mental illes— ‘cpecaly the neuroses—conatiutes a decisive advance and will ecome one ofthe bases of poychounlyis,T elucidate the "seal exolgy of the new roses is otc say that sexu problems, nthe Best sense, iret impinge pon the payche—asif heater were already constcted and incurred such lesions fom the outside; ti, onthe contrary, to underscore the necesary relation beeween such problems and the nature of psychic ite itsel. Pychoandlyis dacs nor only study “aoa that alec the sex fnction ‘nel buc also chciates what destnes or predestines these uisturbances to become the stluses whereby the internal course of psychic life Fnscribed. Psychoanalysis, the, i mater of aligning the sexual etiology of the neuroses wih a theory of evens “According to scientific understanding therelore, sexuality appears the concept that dternines te za ofthe vet within pei if tn he sane way that Freud upheld the distinction beewesn “sex” and “sexuaigit as become necessary todayvo postulates distinction between rsa” and cerebral. Ihe bran designates che set of eerbral fue tions" cerebalty woul be the specific word forthe causal vale of the amage inflicted upon these funetions—that is, upon their capacity to determine the couse of ayehic ile, The recognition of cerebral, them, implies the elucidation of the specie histriiy where dhe cerebral ferent coincides with the pyehie event. Soch recognition makes posible a cerebral etiology of payebic disturbances. Witisnecesty to claborate the concept of cerebrality xy iisbecaus, insdiouly bur unmistakably cetera has usurped the place of sexuality in psjchopathologial discourse and practice. Accordingly, this substitution isone ofthe basi easons forthe conflictual relation between pychoanaly- sis and neurology, The main purpose of my discussion wl ero clarity the ‘neaning of his sebtuson. Atdhogh there are nomerous sas tha cerebral as replaced sexuality, ‘the relcon between them has yet wo be clearly articulated. All we have is tmmimiin 5 the vague iological sppsition tha the “bran” governs "sex This sul sittin i hus exprese by recourse co the vlgur notion ofan “rosie borin” a he rooc ofl our pleasure, emotions and suffering. Thnumerable ticles published both in specialized journals and popu Jar mnagitnes—poie the brain 36 the organ behind "sexual chemist” Such developments suggest thatthe hypothesis ofa specific seal drive ‘endowed with is own psychic representation has been outed by che idea ‘of cerebral sensibility or sensuality. All ffecs begin as neuronal or hor ronal process that have different effects but derive fom the sme source "The libido thus gives way to the vaguer notion of “appetite,” of which, it would be merely one species. Accordingly, Mark Solas ean declare: "Where Pred used the seal term ibido' vo denote the mena function ciated by ove bodily needs of al kinds, modern neurbiolgist speak uf “appetites?” "The libido—in weak sense of sex desire or plensore—would be merely ‘one manifestation among others ofa neuronal dynamic The ida thatthe sexu would bautonomous with especcto che cerbrals thereby demot Ses located inthe bran a8 one of phenomena, As Jean-Dider Vincent puts it Desire is inthe head “The brain hat ako been described as the origin ofthe phenomens sAicon. Advances in dhe knowledge of neurotansmisson have made it posible wo provide a dewiled analysis ofthe procests of dependency ‘Whether i be drugs, sleobol, or mecaions—in particu, rangiizers snd aneidepeesants—the conclusions are the sume: The hubit-forming eet ofthese substances are duet the Fcitatio or inhibition of erin ‘According to rescarch of his ype, the bran isthe origin of ll of our acichments. Such an afimtion docs not amount toa “nelle tion” of dsite but, on che conteary, proves that cerebral organization pre ‘ies over iin! eneny whose laws have ju begun tobe explore “ence, a radial afirmaton: Today, obscurely yer cern, the bein appeies asthe prog site of he coin fa. Eluborating the concept of *cersbrlny” makes powible to unify the sr cvs discourses onthe brain that even if they converge upon the same id, rernin nebulous.4 tdi hac is thesoutce of the provalont ieuton dat dhe brn and afecss ac inseparable fom one another? This incition undoubredly constirutes the naive inerpretition of wha neurologists have recently called “the emo ‘iol bran” The study of notional processes in the rain has become an increasingly inporene aes of research within neurology tat insists pon the inlssoluble link berween neuronal metabolism and the dynamic of ‘emotion, Accordingly, “dynamie of emotion” doesnot merely refer co a system that governs ertdn ype of sensation but racer toa thoroughgo= ing edeiniio ofthe logic ofthe dive. ‘Cerebral activity goes well beyond the mere work of cognition, and even uf consciousness 10 encompass the affective, sensory, and ero fabric ‘vchour which nether cognition nor eonstiousness would exist. For this ‘eason, brain lesions of any kind always result in bh cognitive and emo- ‘ional disturbances affective or ibidinal defcs, disruption of habits, he Luagiclos of life sil, Cogaitve and emodonal damage: We may now pre- sume that ee one never gecurs without the other, How, then, sight we forge a consequential and rigorous connection Iewoun the etoiiaton ofthe bai,” che diffe notion tar haunes pop- lar opinion, and the primordial importance that sientsts grant to emo tions within cerebral organization? Te best way to espond this question ‘woul! bet examine the consequences of damaye tothe emoional enters (ofthe brain According tothe available evidence, however, the ype of event ‘hat interferes with cerebral affets does or fll under the arsiction of sexual i eannot be equited with “har afictd upon dhe sexual fn ton” Brain damage consitates a psychic event ofa differen nature than what Fred calle a “seal event” ‘The concept of cetebraliyy would thes make i possible to determine, nach ike dhe Freudian concepe of “sexual, both w cms ad rege of ‘cent Sexuality and cetcbrlty appear today a8 concurrent economies ofthe payee exposure to wounding. Buc whats the fundamental dincton between “psychic even," under- stood in tern of sent ely, and a"psyehicevent understood in seems of cerebral etiology—the distinction that etblshes the diferend tha Separates psychoanalysis and neurology? What isthe diffrence berween what happens asorling to the one ely and what happens aesoeing to the other? Far Freud, we will show at length in the second pat ofthis book. + “paychic even” always has two sides—an "exogenous" side and an “endog- ons” side. Every event implies an unespected occurrence, an element of surprise, This isthe exogenous aspect of dhe event The endogenous aspect, then, coupriaes che way in which the pyche elaborates this exterior in ‘order to integrate i into the history ofthe subject Sexuality (in both of its senses, “empirical” and “uanacendenta” a it were) ths appears to Frou ae the privileged site of an encounter been the exogenous athe endogenous, of, more precisely, asthe privileged sie ofthe encounter and onocetion between an isdot and a signin, Paul Reoeue mars, ‘uie corey, tht the esence of pryehounaytic discourse lies in the determination of each evene aan inerseccion benseen the “energetic the “hermencui, the connection between “nonsense” and "Sense." “The course and regime of events governed by cerebral is comple Aeron. Brain damage i self an event that, insofar a i affects the iyi Meng of the subject, reveals a cortsin connection between the ‘ingens and the endogenous. But this connection is distinguished by the fice that no interpretation of ts possible. In dhe ease ofa brain Lesion, for example, che extemal character of che accident remains external co the peyche itself Ie renins exterior to the interior. I is consiutively naib The scidens of cerebral are wounds that cutee trend of istry place history ouside itself suspend is course, and remain hermeneutical “lnrecverale” even thuugh the payhe remins alive, The cereale thas voile te ably of the cab 1 rrsive the soleus of is 60 svete "rv rmtuotaN NJREHION OF 4 umganAL sve {nis precisely his poychic survival ofthe cerebral scene that Freud ns cepted. One could even sy that it lain of sexuality Bee psi, ny tals to neuralzaion of cerebral. nhs early work, Freuis ined inceree inthe inseription ofthe event within the psyche, which, tr Proj for a Scie Pychoy onward, he elaborates a the question of “futon” (Babwunp. However, the brain will ery quikly Become for1p on pods woner 1p 0 abe>denpun weSoernd pd fo nd wr 9g gp 99 OY WOH oes a pH USN “Sa aa Nom 09 EEO uo ou separ ooo Sun a2 1 TO 24801, sie soja a bu ae pay Hw ns a ojo 2x9 posig poyauop og Boo] sary moped > ie. 9 ome 2H" .popuRON Hy 2, ouELION Sted xp on was og sntansuon papanon a uoepsun ue 58 9psuaD —presapen wo ns op aoa! siruesp SugRuNp PopUNOR AU, UND soumadns 2p jo founda ap pur p04 ap 989 ou oF parades senye s Giyenaos‘suaye pealy 2p oq seep wag aanesouadop yo ues Ja8u9| ap 40 auESU TE yr zag ue>—auneoyd ‘panty ‘soy ‘SHH “donoe-oMne—HO OD per aug 0 algns ap Sayprae ap Sepia Jo voRSRNS 24, 30 Aaesnesaxp snap 51 Ayeagp3) 4 a0aes3 gag aga} 208 0p 200) HNN Beg fo ‘apd yo sus wy ytd 9 sssnoun, Jo Zaurus ap af ea wy ed pve pane pae jo uoareagudls oe a apy a jeefe lava {Who are they? They ae the term indicates, veins of various cer ‘yal lsions oF ack, head taums, camors, encephalitis, oF meningoen- ‘ophalis Patents with degeneraive Brain diseases such as Parkinsons or ‘Aluhcimers lo fll into this eategory: In adion, we might chink of the stents whom psychoanalysis has aempecd eo cure without succes ehizophvenis, sus, eilepics, vis of Toure syndrome, ‘The *new wounded” consitte aa emergent phenomenon, den, che tent that this category ao refers to subjects who sue from disturbances that had yet be Menttied daring Freed time. Por example, one night luce several recently discovered disorders: obsessve-complsive distur ‘ances, hyperactivity syndrome with attention defi disorder, or any ofthe iinessshlentid by che “disabilies movement.” All such peple—vicins of acidental lesions or chronic illnss—slter, no matter their disparate clinic profiles, from emotional iurbances chat ‘Suomi consist in the malfunctioning of afective signals necessary to ‘make decisions To ditfering degrees, the all display permanent o tempo- ‘ay behaviors of inlifireue or distin. he “new wounded,” hostever, ate noc merely peopl with bran lesions ‘We should recall that cerebral designates a regime of eventalty cht recognizes the psychical weight of acide stripped of any sgiicaion Tihs authorize myself also to extend the eategory of new wounded” co ‘cover every patent in sate of ck who, without having sued bri Fesions, has seen his or her neuronal organization and psychic equibium peranenty changed by trauma. Such paints ao sue, in parca, From an emosional det “The approach of contemporary neuropathology makes it possible to labore leiinate model for understanding the stucrre of every type tof psychi trauma, The lesion method wo borrow one of Damasio for- ‘mulaions is thus capable of showing tha both subject with ran sions fn hose who have sffered types of tau not inked ro cerebral pathol- ‘ogy presen intel behaviors. The behavior of wbjects who are vcs of tesa linked vo mistrentment, wat, errors racks, captivity, oF sexual sbuse display striking reremblances with sabjects who have suffered brain thmage. Ie is posible 10 name these waumas “sociopolitical raumas” Imvntation 44 Under this generic term, one should group all damage caused by extreme relational violence. ‘Teday, however, the border that separates organic trauma and soiopoiel trauma i increasingly porous “This alienation tends to generalize and enlarge the concept of brn damage opening ito types of hare that do not inital pertain to neuro~ tology. I is chusnecestry to show chat all rau impacts neuron ‘ongunieation, pariculrythe sis of emotional inductors. Thisis precisely ‘he point dhat makes it posible to construct a paradigm frail he “new” ‘wounded, In addon, thie affirmation make st posible to understand revronal disturbance in oder terms than puee and simple physiological Iesions ‘Of course, in nevropathologicl cases, neuronal changes ate the ease of ychic dnorgunizaion, wheres dey are dhe consequence of psychic disor {ahiation in cass of sociopoidcal trauma. Nonetheless, in all of thse sitvatons the same impart of te ven is at work, che same eonomy ofthe ident, the sie relation benwen the payche and castrophe [Nor ll trumas, lesional or soiopoliel, are shay fortuitous and thereis never siaple elstion beeween the "noenal™ interior ofthe psyche andthe violent rrption ofan unpredictable enrior.Sociopolitia aus never occurs entre by chance. Every evea always derives, in one way or another, from an indivisible ininaey besween the outside and the isle Nonutelss, woday, waumatie events appear more and more cary as ‘vents that tnd to mask their intentional, king te, apparently cones irony, forms: ey appeatvither as perfectly unmorivated aeidens or 1 the necessary blindness of narurl laws In both cakes, the intentional ‘orientation of the eet is dss or abet “The vitims of neuropathologicaleauma thu dipaya strange phenom ‘non thatconsiutes astactrl tai ofall postraumade behavior EMficing {he limits that separate “neurebiology” from "sociopath," brain damage tends also ro blr the boundaries between history and nature andy at the same dime, it reveals dhe fee dat politcal oppression, today, elf assumes the guise of traumatic blow stripped ofall ustiaion, Beyond the controversies and discussions abou the eficay or cnt of psychoanalysis thaecurendy divide the fell of psychopathology, werey oyopns8 ng 0H) ord ons a0 Pe aueusp wo ee ‘op 4 unronsed er ‘pasnnaegs axe sia Suyosp 293 980 94 ‘pery 2H lojoysiedesnou tpdop, aweu ap aun}—Cyonp ay pe ssSeueoyated aning ssumosu9 ayp oy paAUDp SHE ee soun seo pegs sejeubopedoen yo wdaou09 2, pass oF 90428905 7 3, 2p paIsW uo 99 wt—wopxusoy Kassaou ye es ¢—aposts ue uo PHO royoied‘uopyuns jo upwow, ap 3 Logp xp 2 Supoooy soypsuon aip yo sid 34708 puodsa put soe oqounou 2a Jo Goa ays SL, saan ayn Jo SFoynou 249 ns pur spe fa 20m ound 20) 3p0 co agp uo “ng SBopsnou 0} so aw OWS PRA ep ap 30 yo uusfog np paioua duo Surry esounganayp jar os expense aayeuroys cl pr fou © 48 yay uscd aOR su “swOS BEL’ 38K)roo pes ae seu YR 581 saa ue sj adasa saps ay, ses pur a20jq wag orp rrpes Aine Fsonpaney sory aumdas wenn oolgns pany ey) ej fuss fang uayO ou syosemig axieuroyoted pn wonyap a4 0 spuadsauoo afury>JepeL PAs HHE, PT IE}. a 2 Sapp yg sransue a seme puro 3 pj uondnap ypne snes np Cxyeuound ut Suny ‘sige ang, poypow, sag 40 .puryp, sey o4s su0st05—su0 200 “aero slowing ene woud ¥ popunen ou 19 agp ed g0!gns nouns punyorg 0892p 0 SUORKONIPOU 10 Tots apo so epmaisegy pasa 950 pag AEP Sroneasojuns >in 0 pn waousyd aquas9p op ZHI. 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This is the pone of grt concern in eontemporsy dices “There are not, for Frid, ono spe of pchic nergy? nervous energy and pyehie ners: Insel cer a el lleentaion an eeononic complication of the see of neg bythe second Tet us el he nous sacrent ro the teapot papers according wih “he san of the die Jos oars fram she tsteral work but fun within the ogi ilé Or Farther The dive “impinges oe rom without ba fom within the organs.” These afinmaion echo atslogous satenens from Print fir «Sif Poul: \Widhan increasing npn thse ora the ers {poem ner fom he ami en ote ‘hich have cq so be Uachage Fm hee the ogni nit iho ito fo ern i cnno np thf ihe omaha Aswe now, Freud distinguishes been ph neurons, which manage ester tal stimuli and si neurons whose ek so guidte endogenous exces tion! In every ess, ever, Freud recognizes the existence of an “attack” tha arses fom inside the nervous system, At no moment does he seek 10 discover an energy that would be Frcga vo nervous energy, chat would ‘come rom ouside vo manage te inside ofthe system, How, then, does properly “psychic” energy—nor roe confsed with nersou energy—comne vpn the scene? Iris invoked atthe preci oment when Freud conont the nervous system inability to master its onn stimuli, to satisfy the demands ofthese stimuli, precisely because they te internal, Freud wil quickly abandon the hypothesis of the extence fof two diferent pes of neurons—permeable and impermeable—as a means of understanding and resolving the specie problem of endogenous Tn Freud’s metpsycholoyial theory, the drive appear a 3 force that _eciedly threatens the contact barrier, he Ein ade ico “neuronal” systems fr protecting aguine excessive quantities of exciton “The ficult isi the face tha this free i nt exterior tothe nervous Corded AaeMton 34 system itself On dhe contrary, its the very manifeation ofits, Ths {vive appears at force fom inside thatthe inside ofthe aystemn cannot, ‘manage, rou declare: Wese thn hw grt the snp pater ofthe phys etl complicate by the ined fhe dvs Esterase only the single ak of withing fom thes hii acompisbed by muscle moses ane of which veel acieres hata. Seul coming from the dv, which originate rm within ee eran, anno be del with snlcaue iw underake inal and inercoanectel active by which he ‘exert worl so change 5 lord susan teeter oar uf ‘tilting! ‘These “interconnected stivtes” reveal thatthe nervous system does ut now how to manage itself does not know how to manage elf soon ss iefndsiselfconfronted with nother dynamic tha the primary logic ofthe refles—thats, a soon sit inds itself confronted with an urgeny, 4 ps sure, “constne Force" rom isd. Nervous energy is unable propune or to produce 2 form of exteriorzation or lguiation analogous to msculit dlscharge a order ed ite of his internal thrust. aychic energy chur takes up where nervous energy lev of function- ing, ina sense 35 fre offre, which makes posible wu inp fr the werous stem: co finda means of appeasing o satisfying this constr, urgent, threatening internal extaton. Ie wl be objected hat the nervous ‘system is perfect well equipped co respond wo intersl stimuli. Doct aio, for example, consi such a response? This, however, is precisely the pine inthe case ofthe deve, therein wound, no pin, dno locale ined cause ofeiation, Ii the “ie” iit emit that impinge “The problem thus appears with great larg: che inside ofthe syste Gia ‘conomy) and he inside from which the excitation originates (che source of ‘the drive) paradoviclly become foreign to one another, a if they did not share the sume interior The second inside, infact, dreatens to exces ‘he lmits ofthe firs even as they inhabit che sume body the sine soul. Ths same inside thus diferente o divided from tself—the nervous syste) not being able to identify and hence to internalize the orga o the reason for this intemal pressure—which results in a double energetic ina double am dat corespond, in Freud be doling the merous ys tit phic apparete.32 TheNewaaghl Sldtio of Semlity ‘Once again, there ae not two types of energy but rather a frente ‘nganiation of energy this implemented in order to addres the problem ofthe compa of be ide wth. The dive, Freud atiems, “obliges the nervous sate to renounce is idea intention of keeping off stim for they sintsin an incessant and unavoidable aff of stinulain." Psychic energy cues upon the scene prsly atthe moment of this “The only way to engage the drive ehrough it. sacsftion ad to maintain exezation atthe lowest possible level, i divert che urgency ofthe drive fom the ise, to deport the inside ofthe tive iself nko anetbor ide than that of the nervous system —another inside thc thereby becomes, i a sense, external to the nervous system, “This her inside consited by the psychi appara oye energy dhstakss up where nervous enengy leaves off in oner co sume the task, in pice ofthe brn, of responding wo che unmasterable insistence of i seleration oF of the inside convoking itself. Freud upholds a thesis that runs through his ene work: tbe nervous gen rived of any rare of station. which i oachieve Whar Joes this mean? Freud never contested the pertinence ofthe me hor ofthe bina ceetrial system that Brever developed in ead on “seria In bis contribution to this work, Breuer describes the brain 3s 3 pore and sme medium fr the tansmision of energy We ough noi hink of orb path of onducton a roenblig telephone wire which nly ie elec the moment wich it has ‘ofan (hat he prise ast wen ithas eo rari signa, We ‘ought Hen to cep fn rough which risa ens ow of (plane caren ad which can lager be ent tht arent cses ‘Orbete kts iapin wider eecicl sptenfrigting and the transmis of tr power what expected af this stents ‘euihent of conte shall beable w sec any amp or machine in “pero To ke th po, otha verti lB ear rk, there ma be erin son pent houghou the ei ewok of acs ‘of onduto, ah dja engine mst expend given quay of energy fortis porpons In jut the sane way there cerain amount of ection t : Conde tao-tjerios 35 pct inthe came pth fhe in wi at et twa and Prepared vo work? Ashe same tne, there“ opcimum forthe height of neacerebral wae ‘ication. If thi optimum is exceeded, he equivalent ofa "shorc-crcui is produced in dhe nervous systems {sall vearure once mort ecu omy coparison wih an elec hing ‘pete, Te ttson nthe network of lines fends in ach stom has tt enn oo. Whi excel ts fneini ny easly be impaied for instance the ele laments may be qi bured trough. shall ‘pea ater the duage done othe stem el rough breakdown ofits Snelson or troaph sharing" The brain, therefore, an only confront is own energetic excess through ysunction, Iie not equipped with any structure that would make i pos sible odie the wxes by derouring—which so say differeniating—this energy In other terms cane rey pa any apprats of representation Lets clarify the pot. The inside” om which the drive derives is nota substantial interirity, bt rather « border zone, an undecidable limit “becween the paychicand the somata Freud often sud, beeween the “soul” (Sel) and the body." The drive emerges from a certain excitation ofthe soul and the body ax an ensemble. At the sme time, iis inseparable From the way in which chis ensemble is produced; that i from a thrust that the brain—schich resins indispensable ro hi ensemble—eannot manage tomanage. "The “thrust” ofthe dive, despite the urgency ofthe pressure that i ‘series, only manifests itl through representation or uhrough dele tio, Te takes the time, a its origin, ro double iself into mandating and mandated inetances. The drive ths sends out its epreenttve in ore to say that it cannot wait It is this representative structure tha qualifies and ‘characterises the parcial relation between the somatic nd the psychic at workin the ve Freud develops this Somes th rv i present the pci repent of the snl orginaing fom within the organism and resching the ind” Ar oker sment in two apparently contradictory wayoy eussio 9p, atioges 02 wonMMaeaAdas vod fps Hse (nog ain pur aya yp susp pu sanun SjueuEu0 36 woHENRS| uy anunege Ar psn Abu 19 Gaanne ayoquuts ou anesog as | : 0 op) ous onus pn pana 8 gE "suogeneaids jo dno 10 uonewssauday Fs] annem suye pray oeadny. papeussded oxox sna reap 24y—stbup oo rm oa psd rs mangas nny tesopraed ena oy asst 2 ‘supra ua feuonou, a puRsApuN 61 pO Ly anne jo senposd ronopeid 5 218 ssnscouoy puT Sono ox poy rages a st suqp 3p Jo woaeyARas xp oN 7 ssm0Hd © {aye ue ons pu ons seudsp 204 ss9p wana Groaap ep pend 9 woo Jo mit wat sno aga fo neouocom Lisa 39 Spo mp pe wa 34} aasiag wORePL ray Soonpoad yo aygede> sup poe isso sonorp 0 asus tsalgne apo 129 0 Bopp oop ap 3 ars omrge po,put-uopouts a 0 pods 2 2p 208 st sam S05 Salo ssi, “sesoun a 9 on psn AeHOARN 9A ness 3 “os Bey Hons SIADHEIEY “AOS OD a9gS 20U POP oye iunosoe snp ap stops ee Vonour Jo AINE 9p Jo VOR uw a 8 29 oso ay Jo saronss aun pur 2m “poopy sued aso9p 2495S, "HHP 290. paseo 2920 ppousSaegass9 UE HON Jo Sop worraeaudns yagnao s¢fasnoe ssn apalosyo soy ayn foqdop stp > UE LL, ow wed pd ome ged, owe jugs pans jo wonexoqy}9 aig 2 Aas spe Swe ur cnn © mow ag mg mn pro ay pom soomos eum oy YORE 30 SoH op Ot mag &yprgogsian Sug sq woRDX> Jo S200 nj myo soe a ees om anny 03 pas ay yo sous 0 poss von ‘Poy moans ro oxp pone o's 30 2ydound, ap 30 “seEsotIOY Ep es praxg yuseop pana(qo parpeUu 9q EN» AIAKOFY YoAHP-IME ruses ny a, 84 Vee Nari Saini f Sey ‘sino acetal unconscious, linked to the emotional bain, itcannot be prey and simply asigned toa pariculara "zone" or “region.” Bur the anatomical localization ofthe sites of emoion does remind ws hate concep ofthe cerebral unconscousis linker the bran’ manage ment of itera stimuli and othe auto-repeesentationl activity stached toit This unconscious is conatiuted within the core” where the orginary inurigoe of the individual’ rachaent to if is devised. This “ere” eorre> sponus tothe neuronal elaboration of bth a constant and ever-changing sepresentaton of the xjrhncomatic relation "Accordingly, there exis fr ofthe cercral putes of difreme. This synthesis which is theft ofa representational activity, euersponds to proces ofinuging: "Core consciousness occurs when the bran’ represen tation devices generate an imaged, nonverbal account ofhow the organism's ‘own tat i afete bythe organs procesing ofan object." This ear- tography ofthe ration between inside and outside reveals the “history” of the organist, “aught in the acrof representing its own changing sate ait goes about rereseming something ese, “The cote, which i la called the "prot-s,” the primitive form of ‘dey, s thas conatiued by constant igeraion beeween the internal tilew and the external wold. The sae of che internal milieu, the vscera, and the muiculoseletl system (elementary homeostatic indices), produce continuous and dynamic representation through which leis constancy informing itself about lf. Tstan afer instant, the bran represents (0 isl) the interaction between ts internal state and external stimuli. The sources of internal simul are thus aeays denied and comprehended without having to be diverted “The potas cbernt ulcton of earns porters which mp, nomen yet deat he psi stare fhe organi in is ‘any dines. This etl aii rs-orde elton of ewan pares crus nin oe bin lice Latin any, ata ipl of rel Frm the rain othe carb core, in roctrs hat ars interconnected Lypnerenalpeys These trocar at itiatl iva in the procs ‘of eplatng the tx ofthe organist. The operations acting onthe tans of sensing the state fhe organi ae close ed" “The mechanisns described in this passage constute part of an ensemble of servctures that simultaneously repulte and represent corporeal states ‘Within the bain, therefore, dete no regulation without representation Gord aia 48 ‘This double vounomy deine crea identi’ as a constant synthesis of dierent sees of ration beeen the body and ee psyche A question ied aries: If we define the unconscious a noncen- scious activiy, don't we Ind once agin in the tap that Freud famous ‘denounce of confusing dhe unconscious Vibes) and the nonconscions (Becustls)? Don’c we thereby entirely fail w grasp the signification of the poche unconscious? Accordingly, 3b we ave fs yoyeloanalyss to neurology, are we dealing with the same concept of epresentation"? “There is no dovbe thu, if we simply characterize the cerebral uncon scious a8 the noaconscious place from which homeostatic processes ane managed, we do indeed risk ling inthis rap and adhering to very inst Feent, preritel, definition of the unconscous. However, this snot the ‘ssifwe determine dhe cerebral unconscious” the erin" {0 borrow Marcel Gaucher term)—tha is a6 an active and sui gener process of regulation lhe information chat the rain offers (sel) about the internal state ofthe organi and about the relation berweta the or js and objects are accompanied bythe production of fc Ii impos: sible to separate “information” and “sensorial modality”: suedy speaking the bn fete elf informed. The auorepresentaie ativiey ofthe brn ceasclesly mapped oot within paychosomati state, thus seruinizes its on inside translates it into nage and affects lt with his activ, of which wes, is both sender and recsiver. The “cerebral unconscious,” the, designates les the entirety of noneanscions process than he autefftia fe rin tin its emia Homeosatic proceses, the bith of the sel, andthe birt of objet rela ‘ion rebound together fromthe very eginning a one and the sane phe nomenon with dhe brain. The logic of cerebral auro-affecion does nox suppose the intervension of a supplementary energy that would have dhe starr of the libido. The division berwaun the self and the object is given before any narcsim and any sesulinvestment. Cerebral autovafetion is ‘logical sensvale tha makes posible the tachment of ie wo itself which becomes the basis of al ulterior erotic invesomens ‘Within the cerebral unconscious, homeostatic regulation puts in place ‘om the oust, the iferencated sjathesis of selfand objet, survival and rotianr—wvthout according the ler exanevronal trae. The psyche4 Taya Sian of Sey thus hecomes the core that gathers, within he sane energetic economy the ‘constant exigency of sural, the sf& bond to ielf, and she dese of she ater How, procs, do we understand the concep ofthe “au-allxtion” of the brain In philnopy, the noxon of "ao-ffcion”eradiconally desig rates the orginary and paradoxical manner in which che subject experi- ‘ees hinself as selFidenial by addressing himself as an other within the strange space of is “nner selP™ fr ini). Te consists kindof pei Inondol wlfsonching the sabjper nell peak ell ear elf speaking, experiences the succession ofits sates of consciousness, Is his “contact” that prodces the dference ofthe self fom self, without whic, paraosial, thre ouldbe noidentyyandno permanence. Autoafietion is the subject orignary ably ro inzerpllat isl to slice sl, and to onsite itself apa subject within dhe double movement of ident and theres oie “To speak of cerebral autoafecion, therefore, to adit thatthe brs is capable of oking a itself eouching itself ait conse is own image Homeostatic regulation has specular structure; it operates ssa Lind of tmiror within which the brain sees itlf ive.” Cerebral aut-afection, which desgnares the set of homeostatic process, thus characterizes te Duinpsy experince th alring crater of ota titel. Evotion plays fondamenei role within dhe constitution of his cerebral psyche: che ‘ones itself thais, modifies itself—within the constant ow of vital regulation, The stakes of neurobiological research consist in highlighting, ‘on the basis of this leary esion ofthe brain oitselfand to che othe, the ides ofa cerebral identi tharis nr identical with subjective identi to ‘the precise exten that icons its wneonscious What does chi mean? The nature of cerebral aucoafcction i diferent than the auto-affecion ofthe subject asthe philosophers have dened it The elementary reflection that conse the cerebral payche as such ds ur rot apo it. We does nor redouble its speclaiy «0 the point of ‘doing it with the form of consciousness. No ou ofl bit Ber som sin or comb ob spa oft, eer itpeal, nar Bear ins or beef speak ‘within. Cereal ato-ffecion i necessarily and paradsially accompa Dd by 8 bndnes, dy of be ube 0 fd anybing fora 3 ‘oucric. Ifthe ube can “toch” isl is indeed thanks wo the Ban the fist conact with oneself constituted by homeostasis renders such 1 Cael ein 43 uxo-inrpellaon posible, At these tine, however, is originay sole jeaton hides elf within dhe very thing cae makes possible. Wichin my innerself my bain never appears. Te Brin abet elite very tof is prevent lf. Is onlyacesibe by means of cerebral imaging technology: ‘And there io posible subjectfication af his typeof objectification "As T write these line, 1 see myself write thes, but this vision only the discandy derived and thoroughly elaborated form of a primary auto- affecion—cercbral ao-ffction, constant buc invisible, which forever lLeeps me from experiencing the wealth of enery that i contains and that makes it posible forme wrt in the Bs place. Cerebral entation is the wncnnious of sles. ‘Nearbiologins sometimes scem to recognize a cern proximity between the “prot-sel” and the “eyo” from Freuds second topic." The go, much like core consciousness, appears 38 percepive surfice where Jmernalexitations and external stimuli, coming fom opposite direstins, ineseet. The eiinentnearolgis Jak Panksepp goos so far as vo define ‘the sel ofthe“proto-elP"as.a"Simple Ego Life Form.” “This primal Self" Mark Solos wri, “orm the foundational ego upon which ll our more complex representations of our selves are built Freud ego" and the neurobiologi "sel are oth concepts of the border that meites becween the perception of internal sates and the perception of extemal states. "The ego," Pred write in The Egy and heli "is first and foremost ‘boli ego itis not rely a surface enti, buts itself the projection ofa surface This descrpcion sems indee o ascribe the representation of the body to a specie region of the brain that fnetions as the interface ‘berween internal sensations, perception, and mos: Tn reality, the analogy does no go very fx. Anconio Damasio catego cally refuses to ansimie the Self toa homunculus,” the “itl person” ‘whom so many paycholgits and neurologiss—Freud incuded—con- ‘ceived as the “inhabitan” within the ego In Te Ego and he li for example, Freud declares: If we with find an anatomical analogy for ie we can best. idem it with he 'coralhornuncues ofthe anatomist, which stands on ita in the corey, stick up its hel, faces backward and, as we know, has is speech arena on the lef-hand side" "The homunculus corroponda toa gurl representation of par ofthe nerwous syater There would thos be, in some sense, a subject within the subject ail go within the ego “that possessed the nowledge needed to