Vom gehirn lernen? Zur neurobiologie von psychischer struktur und innerer reprasentanz

Taking the concepts of psychic structure and internal representation as an example, three different ways of relating psychoanalytic concepts to neurobiology are presented and discussed: the localizing, the metaphorical and the modelling relation. The need is stressed not to mix up the different levels of description and explanation too early; at the same time it is argued that - after the dismissal of the old metapsychology - this way of relating offers a new chance to integrate neurobiological aspects in the concept of psychic structure without falling into the traps of biologistic reductionism and individualism.