Abstract

The neuroscientific understanding of memory centers on issues related to the unconscious mind. Research findings support the analytic idea that unconscious material can affect conscious functioning. However, neuroscience explains this phenomena differently from psychoanalysis. The ideas of neuroscience are compatible with the analytic approach, but do challenge analysts to broaden their thinking on this subject. Information flows through the memory system in a series of stages (iconic memory, working memory, and long-term memory). Long term memory is then divided into explicit and implicit memory. The brain structures involved in explicit memory and influences on the encoding and retrieval of explicit memory are outlined. Explicit memory is seen as a reconstructive process. Priming, procedural memory, and emotional memory are discussed. Clinical implications for psychoanalysis are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)