[On spatio-temporality. A psychiatric and interdisciplinary study]

There is no scientific knowledge without a method, no method without a minimum of theory and no theory without a general frame of reference. The concepts of space and time constitute undoubtedly the most comprehensive frame of reference; it is relevant both to the interior, experienced world of man and to the universe in which he lives. The concepts of space and time, which have emerged from various disciplines such as philosophy, cosmology, physics, biology, neurophysiology, ethology and psychiatry show a certain number of mutual relations and even connections. Characteristically, these concepts fit in with the levels, integrations, communications and self-regulations, all the structural properties, which are emphasized by the model of mental disturbances, created by application of a special systems approach, the "systemal method", to the psychiatric clinic. This structural isomorphism between the mental disturbances and the cognitive concepts of space-time reinforce by feed-back the validity of the systemal method. It also indicates the relevance of the basic sciences to the further development of psychiatry.