Chapter 2 Freud: Psychoanalysis 59of being aware. The former is referred to as “core consciousness,” whereas the
latter is referred to as “extended consciousness.” The brain stem, and the ascending
activating system in particular, is the part of the brain most directly associated with
core consciousness, or unconsciousness in the sense of not being awake. For
instance, comas come from damage to this region of the brain stem and render a
person unconscious. In contrast, being aware and able to reflect on one’s knowl-
edge and self is more a function of activity in the prefrontal cortex (the dorsal
frontal cortex) (Solms, 2004; Solms & Turnbull, 2002).
Moreover, a major theme of cognitive psychology over the last 20 years has
been the phenomenon of nonconscious mental processing, or what is referred to
as “implicit,” “nonconscious,” or “automatic” thought and memory (Bargh &
Chartrand, 1999; Schacter, 1987). By this, cognitive psychologists are referring to
mental processes that are neither in awareness nor under intentional control, and
thereby come close to Freud’s definition of unconscious. Of course, Freud’s con-
cept of the unconscious was more dynamic, repressive, and inhibiting, but—as we
see next—cognitive neuroscience is uncovering a similar kind of unconscious.
Pleasure and the Id, Inhibition and the Ego
Findings from many different neuroscientific programs of research have established
that the pleasure-seeking drives have their neurological origins in two brain
structures, namely the brain stem and the limbic system (Solms, 2004; Solms &
Panksepp, 2012; Solms & Turnbull, 2002). Moreover, the neurotransmitter dopa-
mine is most centrally involved in most pleasure-seeking behaviors. In Freud’s
language, these are the drives and instincts of the id.
More recent research is providing fascinating nuance to our understanding
of how the brain experiences the drives and instincts of the id. Neuroscientist Jaak
Panksepp (2004) and psychologist Kent Berridge (2009) have spent decades explor-
ing the reward programs in our brains. This work has pinpointed two important
neurotransmitters that are involved in the id’s perpetual pleasure seeking: dopamine
and the opioids (such as endorphins). The dopamine system is associated with the
id’s seeking or wanting tendencies (gimme!), whereas the opioid system is involved
in the pleasure we experience when the id is satisfied (ahhh!). The two systems
work in tandem. The seeking system not only gets us up and going in the morning,
and urges us to go find food and friends, but also draws us to our computer to
google endlessly various curiosities, or our smart phone to check whether our
Facebook update has received commentary. The liking system allows us to experi-
ence satisfaction when we’ve found what we sought. But even though they work
in tandem, Berridge argues that these are unbalanced systems. Our brain is more
“stingy” when it comes to pleasure than desire, which makes evolutionary sense.
If the id were easily satisfied, we would all be lying around happily unmotivated,
but probably soon dead. This is why Panksepp says that seeking is the master
motivator, confirming Freud’s notion of the id’s primeval force, driving us to keep
seeking after that small dose of pleasure. Twitter anyone?
In 1923, when Freud modified his view of how the mind works and proposed
the structural view of id, ego, and superego, the ego became a structure that was
mostly unconscious, but whose main function was to inhibit drives. If the part of the