Integration Between Cerebral Hemispheres Contributes to Defense Mechanisms

Sergio Paradiso; Warren S Brown; John H Porcerelli; Daniel Tranel; Ralph Adolphs; Lynn K Paul

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01534

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Integration Between Cerebral Hemispheres Contributes to Defense Mechanisms

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Integration Between Cerebral Hemispheres Contributes to Defense Mechanisms

Sergio Paradiso, Warren S Brown, John H Porcerelli, Daniel Tranel, Ralph Adolphs and Lynn K Paul

Frontiers in psychology, Vol.11, pp.1534-1534

07/07/2020

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01534

PMCID: PMC7359856

PMID: 32733338

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Abstract

Defense mechanisms are mental functions which facilitate coping when real or imagined events challenge personal wishes, needs, and feelings. Whether defense mechanisms have a specific neural basis is unknown. The present research tested the hypothesis that interhemispheric integration plays a critical role in defense mechanism development, by studying a unique sample of patients born without the corpus callosum (agenesis of the corpus callosum; AgCC). Adults with AgCC ( N = 27) and matched healthy volunteers ( N = 30) were compared on defense mechanism use across increasing levels of developmental maturity (denial, least; projection, intermediate; identification, most). Narratives generated in response to Thematic Apperception Test images were scored according to the Defense Mechanism Manual. Greater use of denial and less identification was found in persons with AgCC, compared to healthy comparisons. This difference emerged after age 18 when full maturation of defenses among healthy individuals was expected. The findings provide clinically important characterization of social and emotional processing in persons with AgCC. More broadly, the results support the hypothesis that functional integration across the hemispheres is important for the development of defense mechanisms.

interhemispheric transfer

corpus callosum

connectivity

agenesis of the corpus callosum

Psychology

defense mechanisms

Details

Title: Subtitle: Integration Between Cerebral Hemispheres Contributes to Defense Mechanisms
Creators: Sergio Paradiso - Institute of Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience, INECO Foundation, Favaloro University, CONICET
Warren S Brown - Travis Research Institute, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology
John H Porcerelli - Department of Psychology, University of Detroit Mercy
Daniel Tranel - Department of Neurology and Psychology and Neuroscience Program, The University of Iowa
Ralph Adolphs - Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology
Lynn K Paul - Travis Research Institute, Fuller Graduate School of Psychology
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Frontiers in psychology, Vol.11, pp.1534-1534
DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01534
PMID: 32733338
PMCID: PMC7359856
NLM abbreviation: Front Psychol
ISSN: 1664-1078
eISSN: 1664-1078
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A
Grant note: National Institute on Aging
Language: English
Date published: 07/07/2020
Academic Unit: Neurology; Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984070243902771

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