Dunbar's studies at Columbia University of Dante lead to an "insight symbol", which like symbols in medieval and renaissance literature, in psychosomatic medicine and psychiatry gather, shed light on, or refer to a multiplicity of meanings, events, and conditions. For Dunbar, symbols called attention to the whole that is always greater than the sum of its parts. Dunbar also attempted to extend the use of psychoanalysis into the somatic realm. She suggested a physical mechanism for the psyche that was taken from the first two laws of thermodynamics, which she called "emotional thermodynamics". The first law stated psychological energy seeks an outlet through physical symptoms due to its inability to be expressed mentally. The second law states that permanent faults in personality can lead to dissipation of energy and eventually somatic dysfunction. Dunbar viewed the mind as a tangible entity seeking its own equilibrium, by means of energy flowing from an invisible mind to a tangible body. However, Dunbar's research showed a correlational rather than causational relationship between mental and physical phenomena.