Freud and anesthesia--an essay.

• Vol 7 • September 2005 554 Sigmund Freud’s contribution to psychoanalytic theory is well recognized by both the medical community and the general non-medical population. However, the large majority of medical professionals are unaware of his contributions to the fields of neurology, histology, anatomy and anesthesia [1]. Freud began his research in the neurosciences with a study on the phylogenetic association between the central nervous system of lower vertebrates and humans. Using crayfish, he demonstrated that nerve fibers originate from a web-like substance in the neurons and that this structure is always fibrillary. Freud also introduced the use of the gold chloride technique to stain nerve structures. He described the structure and function of the medulla oblongata and the connection between the posterior columns of the spinal cord, the acoustic nerve and cerebellum. He also wrote four major texts describing neurologic disorders such as aphasia and cerebral paralysis in childhood. He also published the first analytical and scientific research on cocaine and was the first investigator to predict its use as a local anesthetic. However, Sigmund Freud gained universal recognition following his discovery and reporting of the existence of an unconscious mind, referred to in the popular literature as the subconscious, a dynamic world of thoughts, fears and behavior that exists in all individuals below the surface of their conscious minds. There is no regular access to this part of the mind, but it reveals itself in a flamboyant charade in dreams. For many years this was considered the main window to the individual’s unique inner life. The entire process of psychoanalysis is the exploration of unconscious desires and fears. The importance of the unconscious was admitted also by Jung. The main disagreement between them was Jung’s belief that there was more to the unconscious than Freud theorized. Jung held that there were fears, behaviors and thoughts that children and adults exhibit that are remarkably similar across time and culture. He believed that this was more than simple coincidence and represents a “reservoir” of our experiences as a species – a kind of knowledge we are born with like a “psychic inheritance” – and called it the Collective Unconscious. On the other hand, according to Jung’s theory, there is a second component of the unconscious, the Personal Unconscious, that is composed of memories that are painful and repressed, as well as unimportant memories that have been simply dropped from awareness. The Personal Unconscious holds parts of the personality that come to consciousness [2]. Jung recognized the existence of a hidden memory (cryptomnesia), which can be compared to implicit memory. Cryptomnesia, a technical term from French scientific literature, is defined as the psychic process in which an automatic creative force causes lost memories to reappear in sizable fragments and with absolute clarity. The reappearance of long-forgotten impressions can be explained by the physiology of the brain, which never forgets any impression no matter how slight. Under special conditions, old memories can emerge with almost photographic fidelity [3]. This essay is a proposal to find a common pathway of two different issues: the subconscious and unconscious of Freud and Jung, and hidden memory learned during anesthesia.