Redefining Reality - The Intellectual Implications of Modern Science

inferred that the function of that region is speech. The picture grew
much more complicated as it became evident that interconnected
areas of the brain were responsible for complex human actions.
Sigmund Freud was a physician in Vienna who was very much in
the mainstream of the brain-based medical research paradigm. After
his marriage, however, Freud moved to clinical work in private
practice. He was consulted by a colleague, Josef Breuer, about a
patient called Anna O. who suffered from a range of symptoms,
including blackouts, periods when she couldn’t speak or move her
limbs, and loss of vision. Breuer found that when Anna talked to
him about her symptoms, they would vanish. Breuer believed that
the relief of symptoms was an effect of catharsis.
The idea that simply talking could have a curative effect on a patient
suffering real symptoms ran completely counter to the paradigm in
which Freud had been working.
He had been accustomed to looking at the structure of the
brain to explain psychological problems. If the mind is not
working properly, there must be a part of the brain machine
that is malfunctioning. But here was a real patient whose
psychological symptoms were made better by addressing the
mind, without mechanical changes.
The possibility of effective talk therapy was revolutionary.
the paradigm.
In the late 18 th century, the German physician Franz Mesmer had
discovered hypnosis in his investigations of the effects of magnets
on humans. In the late 19 th century, Jean-Martin Charcot, a giant in
French medical circles, became interested in hypnosis. He began to
investigate it both as a psychological occurrence and as a possible
treatment for mental issues.
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