brain disorders movie reviews

Inside Out

9/8/2017

Teacher's Guide to Inside Out

When an 11-year old girl is uprooted to move with her parents, the cartoon character emotions in her mind must figure out how to work together to guide her through this difficult transition.

Riley is thrown for a loop when she and her parents move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Five primary emotions – happiness (joy), anger, disgust, sadness, and fear – appear as cartoon characters within Riley Andersen’s mind (“headquarters”). The emotions must figure out how to work together to guide her through this difficult transition. When Joy and Sadness get lost in Riley’s mind, Anger, Fear and Disgust are left to navigate Riley’s new experiences. Joy and Sadness finally return after their adventures through various aspects of Riley's memory, sleep and dreams.

Neuropsychological Review
Inside Out of Memory and Emotions
By Victoria A. Grunberg, M.S.

Inside Out (2015) is an entertaining cartoon film that demonstrates the emotional complexity and development of an 11-year old girl, Riley Andersen, as she experiences the stress of moving across the country with her parents and adjusting to a new school and new friends. From a neuropsychological perspective, the movie demonstrates several facts regarding the impact of emotions on memory, how sleep is related to memory consolidation, and the role of emotions for interpersonal functioning. This film appeals to all ages, and could be used to open discussions with children regarding emotions, challenging situations, and how to cope.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

5/24/2017

After suffering from a catastrophic stroke the charismatic, jovial and artistic editor of a world-renowned French magazine adapts to a life of immobility, speechlessness and impaired sight.

Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of a fashion publication, suddenly finds his world turned upside down. While driving in the picturesque countryside, he suffers a catastrophic stroke that will change the rest of his life. The movie follows Jean’s journey in a rehabilitation center as he faces daily struggles to retain his individuality, solely, through the communication of one eye. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly provides unique insight, through a first-person view, of the pain, sorrow and joy experienced by a patient suffering from locked-in syndrome.

Neuropsychological Review
Trapped in my Mind
Justin W. White

Cognitively alert, you can think, you can see, but you can’t move a thing, and as a result, you are unable to communicate through verbal or motor means, effectively placing a human being in a tomb of flesh (Kobert, 2008). This unimaginable experience is the stark reality for patients who experience a condition known as ‘locked-in syndrome.’ In The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (based on the book The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: A Memoir of Life in Death by Jean Dominique Bauby), Mathieu Amalric plays the role of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of a trendy French magazine who suddenly experiences a stroke (cerebrovascular accident, CVA).

Concussion

10/6/2016

A neuropathologist battles the NFL after discovering a link between football and a newly discovered degenerative brain disease, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy.

Dr. Bennett Omalu, a Nigerian born neuropathologist and medical examiner, makes a startling discovery when asked to examine the brain of a former NFL player. Omalu discovers what he believes to be a neurodegenerative disease responsible for the mood swings, depression, intense headaches and unstable behavior he exhibited before he died. Through more examinations of former NFL players Omalu names this disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. Omalu is determined to inform the public about the long term health risks associated with playing football. despite resistance from the NFL.

Neuropsychological Review
CTE: The brain disease that is changing the NFL
Timothy J. Grillo

Concussion depicts Dr. Bennett Omalu’s efforts to identify what was causing former NFL players to exhibit signs of psychosis and dementia. Omalu, a neuropathologist is staggered when he analyzes a former player’s brain. He was expecting to see an ugly degraded brain, like the brain of someone suffering Alzheimer’s disease, but to his surprise the brain of former Pittsburg Steeler Mike Webster looked different (Kirk, 2013).

BenX

10/6/2016

An Autistic boy finds himself at the butt of most jokes in his school until he utilizes his online gaming skills in order to seek courage and revenge.

Ben is a young high school student who falls on the Autism Spectrum Scale. Because he is different, many students find it acceptable to pick and bully Ben. Consequently, he finds himself disassociating during these traumatic experiences and honing in on his online video game persona. Through his process of gaming, Ben builds a relationship with a girl coined his “helper”. His helper assists him in building not only courage in standing up for his rights but revenge on the bullies.

Neuropsychological Review
Behind the Eyes of a Boy With Autism
Lisa Vallone

BenX is a heart-wrenching tale regarding an Autistic boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). While Ben is known as somewhat of a social pariah, he excels in learning, his store of knowledge, and most importantly, video gaming. Due to his social differences, Ben finds himself the victim of many merciless pranks at the hands of school bullies. At school Ben is different, but online he is just as good, if not better, than any other player.

Still Alice

2/20/2015

A renowned linguistics professor’s life unravels after she is diagnosed with rapidly progressing early-onset (familial) Alzheimer’s Disease

At the top of her game, 50-year-old Alice is diagnosed with a genetically linked, early onset, type of Alzheimer’s Disease. The movie follows an ambitious and intellectual woman through her loss of self with each painful aspect of her decline in memory, communication, and eventually her independence. As she experiences a fundamental loss of who she once was, we observe Alice and her family's adaptation to Alzheimer’s, as they struggle to find hope in an otherwise hopeless situation. Still Alice encourages us to redefine a life worth living when knowledge of ourselves is taken away.

Neuropsychological Review
The Changing Self in Alzheimer’s Disease: a Personal Perspective Through “Still Alice”
Daniel G. Smith, M. S. (Contact )

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) can be called the “ultimate thief” insofar as we define ourselves as “the sum of our combined experiences” (Wolfson, 2008). In Still Alice (based on the fictional book I’m Still Alice by neuroscientist Lisa Genova), Julianne Moore gives a stellar portrayal of Alice, a strong woman who must face a life with early-onset (familial) Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). A woman who defines herself by her intellect and strong facility with language must adapt to the many existential dilemmas and at the center, a fundamental loss of self that arises with this chronic, progressive, and at present, incurable condition.

Temple Grandin

2/13/2015

A young woman with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows the ability to “think in pictures” and overcomes immense obstacles to achieve extraordinary goals.

In this biopic of Temple Grandin, the celebrated woman with ASD, the struggles and triumphs of her early life are chronicled. With a comprehensive support network Temple learns to communicate, to discover how her brain works, and to accept her unique talents which ultimately lead to valuable contributions in animal husbandry and our understanding of people on the autism spectrum.

Neuropsychological Review
Different, Not Less
Nicole Roshannon

“They knew I was different, but not less”; proudly proclaims a young Temple Grandin, during a sure-to-give-you-goose-bumps speech in the last scene of Mick Jackson’s HBO biopic detailing Grandin’s life as an autistic person. While the public’s awareness of autism has increased over the past several decades, so grew Grandin’s celebrity as an inspiring autist and self advocate.

Insomnia

2/11/2015

An LA detective battles sleep deprivation while investigating a murder in a small town in Alaska where the sun never sets.

Veteran detective Will Dormer flies to Nightmute, Alaska to assist the local police force in an ongoing murder investigation. While trying to find the killer, detective Dormer battles sun filled nights that rob him of sleep. As Dormer’s mind becomes increasingly fatigued he must come to terms with a second crime as he struggles to differentiate between his waning consciousness and reality.

Neuropsychological Review
Just Let me Sleep
Steven M. Smith

As Insomnia begins we join detective Will Dormer, played by Al Pacino, early in his battle with insomnia and, possibly more importantly, anxiety. Throughout the opening credits, director Christopher Nolan uses fading and pulsating imagery to simulate the struggle of keeping one’s eyes open, effectively placing the viewer in the shoes of someone who is experiencing the side effects of extreme fatigue.

Mary and Max

1/19/2015

An 8 year old girl from Australia becomes a pen friend to to a middle aged man in New York City with Asperger's Syndrome.

This quirky animated black comedy explores the friendship of two social misfits through their letters. Among Max's mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, he is also diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. He calls himself an Aspie and goes on to describe the traits he has which fit what others call his "disability". Max stands firm in his self-assessment that he doesn't feel defective or need to be cured. He simply doesn't understand how humans can be so illogical. When Mary writes a book about his disorder, their friendship is sorely tested. This film doesn't hold back on black humor nor the effects of not being accepted. A movie about friendship.

Vincent Wants to Sea (Vincent will Meer)

11/18/2014

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A young man with Tourette's syndrome, runs away from an institution to lay his mother to rest by the sea.

Vincent, a young man with Tourette's syndrome, loses his mother and his home. He is placed in a mental institution by his father who is to worried more about his own political career than his son's welfare. Vincent and two other patients break out from the institution to travel to Italy. Vincent wants to lay his mother to rest at the sea. Along the way unlikely friendships are formed and relationships change.

Neuropsychological Review
It forces me to do what I don't want to
Stephanie Quinn

This German film starts out at a funeral, where we are introduced to the main character of the film, Vincent Galler. Vincent is a young man, who, at this point in the film, is struggling to keep his tics under control during the funeral for his mother (01:24). As more people continue to stare at Vincent and whisper about him, the tics get worse until he is eventually forced to stand outside the church so that his tics calm down (01:44). This is one of the first events that leads Vincent to do things he doesn't want to do.

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Faces in the Crowd

2/25/2014

A young woman miraculously survives a serial killer's attack only to be stricken with prosopagnosia, a disorder that prevents her from recognizing faces.

A young woman named Anna sees her world turned upside down when she becomes the sole witness to a murder and also suffers an injury that leaves her unable to recognize people by their faces, including the killer. Struggling with prosopagnosia, also known as "face blindness", Anna must learn how to navigate a world full of friends who look like strangers, and strangers who could be killers. Can she see people for who they really are before the killer comes for her?

Neuropsychological Review
Face Blindness: Losing Others, Losing Yourself
Caitlin Potter

There is nothing so comforting as recognizing the face of a loved one amongst a veritable sea of strangers. Imagine what life would be like if you lost the ability to recognize a friend, family member, and even yourself! ...

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