Neuropsychological Integration, a Sense of Relationship, and the Self as Unified Experience

Although the neuropsychological foundations of the self have been poorly understood to date, a neuropsychological model has recently been proposed that suggests that the self is best conceptualized as a "unified experience" that is created when all neuropsychological processes are integrated in the right hemisphere association area to produce a sense of relationship between them (i.e., that they are occurring to the same entity at the same time, place, and context). This model was recently validated by a factor analysis of the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale that identified empirically distinct factors for dis-integrated neurological inputs (i.e., sensations) and dis-integrated neurological outputs (i.e., affect, behavior, cognition). However, further validation and expansion of the model are needed.

This article reviews and reinterprets previous neuropsychological studies of the self to validate the model.

Review of this neuropsychological model of the self and supporting research suggest that this integrative neuropsychological process of relationship be conceptualized and assessed in terms of: (a) the specific neuropsychological processes that are integrated (i.e., affect, behavior, cognition, sensations); (b) the quantitative degree of experienced relationship (i.e., high to low); and (c) the center of experience/point of reference from which this integration occurs (i.e., body/brain; external).

It is suggested that this model be used to provide a universal framework to explain diverse neurologic, psychiatric, and delusional misidentification disorders of the self, socially based character traits (i.e., experiences of relationship to other individuals), and other selfless experiences (e.g., transcendence, flow states). Clinical and research applications are discussed.