Some neurobiological aspects of psychotherapy. A review

Abstract

Ever since the idea was accepted that memory is associated with alterations in synaptic strength, studies on the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for the plastic changes in neurons have attracted wide interest in the scientific community. This article explores the process of memory consolidation leading to persistent modifications in synaptic plasticity as a mechanism by which psychotherapy facilitates changes in the permanent storage of information acquired throughout the individual's life. The psychobiological interrelationships of affect, attachment, and memory offer a perspective regarding the etiology and treatment of clinical disturbances of affect. Analogies between brain physiology and modes of psychotherapy provide the foundation for a review of psychiatric disorders involving the inability to control fear, obsessions, compulsions, and delusions, all of which respond to psychotherapeutic interventions.

The hippocampus may store long-term memory for weeks and gradually transfer it to specific regions of the cerebral cortexThe diagram illustrates this process for visual memory. Neural imput travels to the visual cortex and then to the hippocampus, where it is stored for several weeks before it is transferred back to the cortex for long-term memory. The hippocampus has three major synaptic pathways, each capable of long-term potentiation, which is thought to play a role in the storage process.

Explicit memory referes to conscious recollection of facts and events and depends on the integrity of limbic/diencephalic structuresImplicit memory refers to a heterogeneous collection of abilities. In the case of implicit memory, experience alters behavior nonconsciously without providing access to any memory content. Reprinted with permission from L.R. Squire and M. Zola-Morgan, “The medial temporal lobe memory system.” Science 1991; 253:1380–1386. Copyright 1991 Amercian Association for the Advancement of Science.