Mentalizzazione e tempo. La comprensione della mente attraverso le età e le relazioni

Abstract

Mentalization and Time.Understanding Mind Through Aging and Relationship - In recent years the concept of Theory of Mind has frequently been linked to or replaced by the concept of Mentalization. This change in terminology reflects a more procedural interpretation of the construct. Already twenty years ago an increasing number of studies in this area pointed to the relevance of a life-span approach and the resulted from the theoretical as well as from the methodological point of view. The aim of this paper is to highlight that this procedural interpretation has both a diachronic dimension (changes of mentalization abilities across the life-span) and a synchronic dimension (changes in the mentalization abilities of the same individual as a function of interpersonal relationships). Various innovative fields of investigation are taken into account: the neurobiological basis of mentalization, changes that occur with physiological and pathological aging, the role of context for the development of mentalization from the longitudinal-diachronic and the synchronic perspectives, and the therapeutic and educational implications for individuals and organizations of mentalization-based interventions.

Keywords

• Mentalization
• Life-span Perspective
• Neurobiological Correlates
• Aging
• Contexts