Toward a Neurobiological Model of Gestalt Confluence: Thalamocortical Integration as a Hypothetical Framework for Contact Interruption

Background/Objectives: The integration of psychotherapeutic theory with contemporary neuroscience represents one of the most productive frontiers of clinical research. The fundamental theoretical constructs of Gestalt therapy have been developed with considerable clinical depth, yet their neurobiological foundations remain largely unexplored. Confluence, one of the most debated mechanisms of contact disruption in Gestalt therapy, has recently been described as characterized by a three-dimensional conceptual structure: blurred boundaries, undifferentiation, and avoidance of contact. Methods: In this hypothesis article, we start from this structure and from neuroscientific evidence on thalamic filtering, thalamocortical synchronization, and salience attribution. Results: We propose an original theoretical framework—explicitly hypothesis-generating rather than empirically validated—for dysfunctional confluence, understood as a putative disruption of the transition from globally distributed somatosensory activation to the formation of differentiated figures in the salience network. Conclusions: The proposed correspondences are intended as heuristic mappings aimed at generating testable hypotheses and opening a productive dialogue between Gestalt theory, affective neuroscience, and clinical practice.