Article

Received 07.08.2025

Revised 02.12.2025

Accepted 23.12.2025

Published 06.01.2026

Retrieved from Vol. 15, No. 2, 2025

Pages 22 -33

Grygorieva, S. (2025). Primary autosensory experience and the aesthetic stage of personality development: From sensory mirroring error to the formation of dependent behaviour. Psychology and Personality, 15(2), 22-33. https://doi.org/10.33989/2226-4078.2025.2.22

Primary autosensory experience and the aesthetic stage of personality development: From sensory mirroring error to the formation of dependent behaviour

Svitlana Grygorieva

In neurobiology and psychoanalysis, there is a growing interest in the role of the thalamus and sensory systems in early development and in the emergence of dependent behaviour. Disturbances in thalamocortical pathways during the first months of life may determine subsequent emotional and cognitive regulation. This meta- study explored the influence of sensory harmonisation and thalamocortical functioning on the early development of the child and on the appearance of dependency patterns, emphasising the importance of identifying sensory disturbances and preventing them in later life. A systematic theoretical analysis of scientific publications from 2016- 2025 was conducted, encompassing data from neurobiological research, clinical observations, and psychoanalytic concepts of development. The analysis focused on comparing findings related to thalamic functions, primary reflexes, and maternal-infant sensory adaptation. It was found that disturbances in maternal sensory attunement to the infant’s needs hinder the integration of primary reflexes and obstruct the development of vertical regulatory control. The results demonstrated that immature thalamocortical pathways render the infant vulnerable to fragmented sensory signals. Early dysfunctions were shown to contribute to compensatory dependency in adulthood. A new concept of the aesthetic stage of development was formulated, replacing the classical notion of the narcissistic stage by providing a more precise description of the sensory and affective dynamics of the first months of life. An explanatory model was also proposed, linking early sensory mismatches to the formation of dependency patterns. The findings may be applied by psychologists and psychotherapists in the design of early intervention and prevention programmes for dependent behaviour 

maternal-infant synchronisation; thalamus; primary reflexes; top-down control; dependency patterns
  1. Akbash, K.S., Pasichnyk, N.O., & Rizhniak, R.Ya. (2022). An analysis of the factors with influence on scientometric indicators of researchers from pedagogical universities of Ukraine. Statistics of Ukraine, 95(4), 34-42. doi: 10.31767/su.4(95)2021.04.04.
  2. Bernal Rivas, F., & Avello-Sáez, D. (2023). Effects of parental attachment and sensory processing on child development. Systematic review. Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional, 31, article number e3527. doi: 10.1590/2526-8910.ctoAR270435272.
  3. Bi, X., Cui, H., & Ma, Y. (2023). Hyperscanning studies on interbrain synchrony and child development: A narrative review. Neuroscience, 530, 38-45. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.08.035.
  4. Born, R.T., & Bencomo, H. (2021). Illusions, delusions, and your backwards Bayesian brain: A biased visual perspective. Brain, Behavior and Evolution, 96(5), 272-285. doi: 10.1159/000514859.
  5. Cacciatore, M., et al. (2025). Thalamus and consciousness: A systematic review on thalamic nuclei associated with consciousness. Frontiers in Neurology, 16, article number 1509668. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1509668.
  6. Correa, S., Nichols, E.S., Mueller, M.E., de Vrijer, B., Eagleson, R., McKenzie, C.A., de Ribaupierre, S., & Duerden, E.G. (2023). Default mode network functional connectivity strength in utero and the association with fetal subcortical development. Cerebral Cortex, 33(14), 9144-9153. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhad190.
  7. Danyliuk, I., & Burkalo, N. (2024). Sensory integration and its significance for child development. Psychological Journal, 10(2), 7-26. doi: 10.31108/1.2024.10.2.1.
  8. Deng, Y., Song, D., Ni, J., Qing, H., & Quan, Z. (2023). Reward prediction error in learning-related behaviors. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 17, article number 1171612. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1171612.
  9. Etemadi-Aleagha, A., & Akhgari, M. (2022). Psychotropic drug abuse in pregnancy and its impact on child neurodevelopment: A review. World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics, 11(1), 1-13. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v11.i1.1.
  10. Everitt, B.J., & Robbins, T.W. (2016). Drug addiction: Updating actions to habits to compulsions ten years on. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 23-50. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033457.
  11. Furutachi, S., Franklin, A.D., Aldea, A.M., Mrsic-Flogel, T.D., & Hofer, S.B. (2024). Cooperative thalamocortical circuit mechanism for sensory prediction errors. Nature, 633, 398-406. doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07851-w.
  12. Grygorieva, S. (2021). Dependent behavior and the model of family relations in the system of “safe” attachment. Technology Transfer: Innovative Solutions in Social Sciences and Humanities, 4, 44-46. doi: 10.21303/2613-5647.2021.001725.
  13. Gulko, Y.A., & Popovych, F.I. (2022). Neuropsychological approach to sensory-emotional development of preschool children. In V.O. Molyako (Ed.), Psychological problems of creativity: Proceedings of the XXII international scientific and practical conference (pp. 65-75). Kyiv: H.S. Kostiuk Institute of Psychology of the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine.
  14. Halassa, M.M., & Kastner, S. (2017). Thalamic functions in distributed cognitive control. Nature Neuroscience, 20, 1669-1679. doi: 10.1038/s41593-017-0020-1.
  15. Kantarova, N. (2025). Anatomy of the nervous system in the context of psychological cognition: Сontemporary approaches. Research Bulletin. Series: Psychology, 2, 66-71. doi: 10.32782/cusu-psy-2025-2-9.
  16. Kennedy, E., Vadlamani, S., Lindsey, H.M., Lei, P.-W., Jo-Pugh, M., Thompson, P.M., Tate, D.F., Hillary, F.G., Dennis, E.L., & Wilde, E.A. (2024). Bridging big data in the ENIGMA consortium to combine non-equivalent cognitive measures. Scientific Reports, 14(1), article number 24289. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-72968-x.
  17. Koob, G.F., & Volkow, N.D. (2016). Neurobiology of addiction: A neurocircuitry analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(8), 760-773. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(16)00104-8.
  18. Lassen, J., Oranje, B., Vestergaard, M., Foldager, M., Kjær, T.W., Arnfred, S., & Aggernæs, B. (2022). Reduced mismatch negativity in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder is associated with their impaired adaptive functioning. Autism Research, 15(8), 1469-1481. doi: 10.1002/aur.2738.
  19. Lee, K., Oh, Y., Izawa, J., & Schweighofer, N. (2018). Sensory prediction errors, not performance errors, update memories in visuomotor adaptation. Scientific Reports, 8(1), article number 16483. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-34598-y.
  20. Leisman, G., & Melillo, R. (2022). Front and center: Maturational dysregulation of frontal lobe functional neuroanatomic connections in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, 16, article number 936025. doi: 10.3389/fnana.2022.936025.
  21. Leong, V., Byrne, E.M., Clackson, K., Georgieva, S., Lam, S., & Wass, S. (2017). Speaker gaze increases information coupling between infant and adult brains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(50), 13290-13295. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1702493114.
  22. Likhitska, L., & Starovoyt, L. (2024). Maternal position as the agent of the child’s affective behavior. Scientific Issues of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University. Section: Pedagogics and Psychology, 78, 76-82. doi: 10.31652/2415-7872-2024-78-76-82.
  23. LoFaro, F.M., Gueguen, M.C., Kapoor, A., Alvarez, E.E., Bonagura, D., & Konova, A.B. (2025). Largely intact but less reliable and distributed neural representations of subjective value in human opioid addiction. The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 45(42), article number e0679252025. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0679-25.2025.
  24. Lor, C.S., Haugg, A., Zhang, M., Zhang, M., Schneider, L., Herdener, M., Quednow, B.B., Golestani, N., & Scharnowski, F. (2023). Thalamic volume and functional connectivity are associated with nicotine dependence severity and craving. Addiction Biology, 28(1), article number e13261. doi: 10.1111/adb.13261.
  25. Millidge, B., Seth, A., & Buckley, C.L. (2021). Predictive coding: A theoretical and experimental review. ArXiv. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2107.12979.
  26. Naydonova, G., Afuzova, H., & Krotenko, V. (2024). Attachment and mental health: Systematic review. Social and Practical Psychology Journal, 3, 100-106.  doi: 10.32782/psy-2024-3-16.
  27. Nielsen, A.N., et al. (2023). Maturation of large-scale brain systems over the first month of life. Cerebral Cortex, 33(6), 2788-2803. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhac242.
  28. Pavlovska, O. (2024). The clinical thinking of Andre Green. Ukrainian Psychoanalytic Journal, 2(2), 10-19. doi: 10.32782/upj/2024-2-2-2.
  29. Ross, A.G., Giri, S., Anyasodor, A.E., Mahmood, S., Astawesegn, F.H., Huda, M.M., Ahmed, K.Y., Mondal, U.K., & Thapa, S. (2024). Adverse childhood experiences leading to narcissistic personality disorder: A case report. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1), article number 842. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-06307-9.
  30. Shved, M. (2023). Peculiarities of the formation of early attachment models in children with traumatic experiences. Psychology & Society, 2, 194-203. doi: 10.35774/pis2023.02.194.
  31. Sydykova, G., & Rybyanova, E. (2022). Study of parent-child relationships as a factor in the psychological development of a child. Bulletin of the Jusup Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University, 14(2), 322-327.
  32. Toulmin, H., O’Muircheartaigh, J., Counsell, S.J., Falconer, S., Chew, A., Beckmann, C.F., & Edwards, A.D. (2021). Functional thalamocortical connectivity at term equivalent age and outcome at 2 years in infants born preterm. Cortex, 135, 17-29. doi: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.09.022.
  33. Wang, L., Cao, J., Chen, H., Ma, Y., Zhang, Y., Su, X., Jing, Y., & Wang, Y. (2025). Transcription factor EB overexpression through glial fibrillary acidic protein promoter disrupts neuronal lamination by dysregulating neurogenesis during embryonic development. Developmental Neuroscience, 47(1), 40-54. doi: 10.1159/000538656.
  34. Xiao, N.G., Ghersin, H., Dombrowski, N.D., Boldin, A.M., & Emberson, L.L. (2024). Infants’ top-down perceptual modulation is specific to own-race faces. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 242, article number 105889. doi: 10.1016/j.jecp.2024.105889.
  35. Zagoory-Sharon, O., Yirmiya, K., Peleg, I., Shimon-Raz, O., Sanderlin, R., & Feldman, R. (2024). Breast milk oxytocin and s-IgA modulate infant biomarkers and social engagement; The role of maternal anxiety. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology, 17, article number 100219.  doi: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2023.100219.
  36. Zheng, W., Zhao, L., Zhao, Z., Liu, T., Hu, B., & Wu, D. (2023). Spatiotemporal developmental gradient of thalamic morphology, microstructure, and connectivity from the third trimester to early infancy. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(4), 559-570. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0874-22.2022.

https://doi.org/10.33989/2226-4078.2025.2.22