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>An innate brainstem self-other system involving orienting, affective responding, and polyvalent relational seeking: Some clinical implications for a 'Deep Brain Reorienting' trauma psychotherapy approach
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An innate brainstem self-other system involving orienting, affective responding, and polyvalent relational seeking: Some clinical implications for a 'Deep Brain Reorienting' trauma psychotherapy approach
Underlying any complex relational intersubjectivity there is an inherent urge to connect, to have proximity, to engage in an experience of interpersonal contact. The hypothesis set out here is that this most basic urge to connect is dependent on circuits based in three main components: the midbrain superior colliculi (SC), the midbrain periaqueductal gray (PAG), and the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems originating in the midbrain ventral tegmental area. Firstly, there is orienting towards or away from interpersonal contact, dependent on approach and/or defensive/withdrawal areas of the SC. Secondly, there is an affective response to the contact, mediated by the PAG. Thirdly, there is an associated, affectively-loaded, seeking drive based in the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems. The neurochemical milieu of these dopaminergic systems is responsive to environmental factors, creating the possibility of multiple states of functioning with different affective valences, a polyvalent range of subjectively positive and negative experiences.
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