On binaries in mind and brain
Kobi Tiberg
Routledge eBooks October 28, 2026 DOI: 10.4324/9781003668091-4 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with ventromedial prefrontal lesions |
| Key points | Argues that psychoanalytic binary structures may reflect underlying neurodynamic distinctions, drawing on Matte Blanco's symmetrical versus asymmetrical modes of thought. Proposes that unconscious processes blur difference, context, and sequence, while secondary-process functioning supports differentiation and reflective mentalization. Suggests that clinical material from patients with ventromedial prefrontal lesions, including confabulation, projection, altered agency, and transferential distortions, illustrates what happens when binding and contextual anchoring fail, and that such lesions can illuminate psychoanalytic dynamics like projection, splitting, and disturbances of agency. |
Abstract
This chapter examines binary structures in psychoanalytic theory and asks whether such dualities may reflect underlying neurodynamic distinctions. Drawing on Ignacio Matte Blanco’s distinction between symmetrical and asymmetrical modes of thought, it describes how unconscious processes blur difference, context, and sequence, whereas secondary-process functioning supports differentiation, contextualization, and reflective mentalization. These ideas are explored through neuropsychoanalytic clinical material involving patients with ventromedial prefrontal lesions. Their confabulation, projection, altered agency, and transferential distortions offer a view of what happens when binding and contextual anchoring fail. The discussion links these phenomena to episodic memory, affective organization, and the regulatory role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the default mode network, suggesting how focal brain lesions can illuminate core psychoanalytic dynamics, such as projection, splitting, and disturbances of agency.