ABSTRACT
Psychoanalysis and cognitive neuroscience share an interest in consciousness. Each discipline has, in virtue of its methodology and educated observations, uncovered several truths about how mental processes occur in a more or less conscious fashion. Cross-fertilization between the two domains, although obviously desirable, has been so far extremely limited, however. The attention of scholars has been in fact heavily biased by the nature of their interests and aims. The aim of this essay is, after examining some difficulties intrinsic to the con-
cept of consciousness that contribute to limiting cross-talk between psychoanalysis and cognitive neuroscience, to provide some example of how progress in the direction of a profitable interaction may be accomplished. Some progress, it will be argued, will be made by considering the implications of neuropsychological cases that show a dissociation within consciousness at various levels. These dissociations reflect the relatively modular organization of the brain and, as a consequence, of the cognitive system. By considering the particular properties of these different, relatively independent, brain networks and portions of our mental apparatus, psychoanalysis may find interesting suggestions on what and how to investigate certain psychodynamic processes with its own proper methods.
