Specific Neural Pathways for Some Situations

Sigmund Freud

I stated that “often, or perhaps regularly, complete object-choice is established in early childhood, of the kind that we have inferred to be characteristic of the pubertal phase of development, namely, such as occurs when all the sexual trends become directed towards one single person, and in that person seek to reach their aims. This constitutes the most complete approximation possible in childhood to the definitive form taken by sexual life after puberty. The sole difference from the latter is that the coalescence of the component-impulses and their concentration under the primacy of the genital organs is not effected in childhood, or only very imperfectly. The institution of this primacy is, therefore, the last phase which the sexual organization undergoes.”