[Ecology of the brain. A systemic view for psychiatry and psychotherapy]

Abstract

Present neurobiological concepts of the mind-brain relationship often tend towards a reductionist view of subjectivity. In contrast to this, an ecological or systemic view of the brain is outlined which regards cognition and consciousness as components in a circular causality of organism and environment. In these cyclic processes, the brain functions as an organ of transformation which mutually translates elementary and complex system states into each other, thus allowing the organism to develop integral options of perception and action in its environment. Since these interactions, on their part, continuously change the microstructure of the brain, it has to be regarded as an organ that is formed biologically, socially as well as historically. The consequences of this ecological conception for our view of mental illness, for therapeutic approaches and for the role of subjectivity in psychiatry are pointed out.