The Nucleus Theory - A Valence-Based Testable Reconstruction of the Psychoanalytic Unconscious

We propose a neuro-functional, developmental model of the psyche, the “nucleus theory,” which reconstructs classical psychoanalytic concepts from a single primitive: the valenced address. The psyche is described as a nested architecture — Psyche = F2(F1(F0)) — in which an instinctive zero nucleus (F0) is the substrate of a primary, emotional and unconscious nucleus (F1), itself the substrate of a secondary, cognitive and conscious nucleus (F2). Every input is encoded by a bimodal law Ψ = ω₁A + ω₂P (anxiety and pleasure). We defend two central theses: (1) valence is the common currency of both unconscious encoding and conscious decision; (2) the hippocampus does not store memories but provides a valenced index of pointers to distributed cortical representations. From this we derive a re-reading of repression (inhibition of episodic memory), of the symptom (a repetition, in the Lacanian sense, produced by the unconscious and therefore reversible) and a dissociative therapeutic method that treats the affect — along the parental axes — and not the veracity of the memory. The model is offered as a refutable hypothesis, with testable predictions and stated limits.