The book describes the theoretical foundations and phenomenology of a hierarchical functional and organizational principle that is reflected in various concepts of the brain and mind. According to these ideas, neural and mental function is understood as the result of hierarchical superpositions that are hallmarks of ontogenetic and phylogenetic development. The model implies control of subordinate elements by superior elements, so that a disruption in this organization offers new possibilities for interpreting neural, mental and psychopathological phenomena. Hierarchical principles can be found in concepts of neurology, neuroethology and psychoanalysis, as well as in the theory of microgenesis. By incorporating evolutionary and hierarchical aspects into explanatory models of human mind and behaviour, this approach contrasts with the modular concepts of cognitive neuroscience. Gerald Wiest, MD, is Associate Professor of Neurology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria and a psychoanalyst (Vienna Psychoanalytic Society and International Psychoanalytical Association, IPA). He was a Research Scholar at the Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles (1999-2001) and IPA Research Training Program Fellow at UCL (2008) and Yale University (2010). He served as a member of the board of the Sigmund Freud Society in Vienna and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.

He is Associate Editor of Frontiers in Neurology and he publishes in the fields of neurology, neuropsychoanalysis and psychoanalytic theory.