Network properties of a model for conscious and unconscious mental processes

We have previously described the mental pathology known as neurosis, in terms of its relation to memory function. We proposed neural network mechanisms, whereby neurotic behavior is described as a brain associative memory process, and the symbolic associativity involved in psychoanalytic working-through can be mapped onto a corresponding network reconfiguration process. Microscopic mechanisms that control synaptic properties self-organize the memory networks to a hierarchical, clustered structure. Modules corresponding to sensorial and symbolic memories interact, representing unconscious and conscious mental processes. Here, we review these concepts and illustrate, with simulations, some of these complex networks’ behaviors and properties.