[Psychophysiology as a basic science in psychiatry].

Abstract

A characterization of psychophysiology as a psychiatric basic science is presented. Based upon the methodical pluralism of an open anthropology, this discipline must provide a unifying framework of different methodological strategies and the patterns of thought needed for their armonic integration. Its aim is the generation of "neutral" constructs and theories with meaning in different discourses. This implies to recognize and accept the contextualism of every empirical knowledge and poses the problem of the complementary of different approaches. The different levels of analysis in which the relationships between the nervous system and behavior are studied allow the distinction between two forms of objectivity: the objectivity of the physiological processes and the objectivity of subjective functions. Among these, two are discussed; estesiologic subjectivity, based upon the perception of the own body, and dialogic interaction, derived from bodily expression and communication. The need for studies across different levels of analysis affords the opportunity to employ different models of thought to approach the same problems and to identify mechanisms and emergent properties in the systems studied.