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The Music Never Stopped

12/12/2013

4 Comments

 
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A father attempts to reconnect with his estranged son who suffers from anterograde amnesia.

A father learns that his son Gabriel, who ran away from home twenty years ago, is now suffering from a brain tumor that is causing severe damage to his brain. When the tumor is removed, doctors find that Gabriel possesses anterograde amnesia. It is discovered that while Gabriel is not able to form new memories on his own, he is able to do so with the help of music. As Gabriel's father attempts to reconnect with him, he finds that he must not only cope with Gabriel's illness, but also confront the very issues that led to their separation.

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Donovan's Brain

12/2/2013

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A scientist harvests the brain of a sinister millionaire which starts to exert its control on the obsessed doctor.    

After a violent plane crash, millionaire W. H. Donovan is brought to the office of Dr. Patrick Cory, whose research is on the preservation of a living brain.  Unable to revive Donovan, Dr. Cory quickly removes his brain from his body and finds that the brain still functions.  Donovan’s brain starts to impose its’ thoughts and will on Dr. Cory, leaving Dr. Cory in an amnestic state while living the life of Donovan, even mimicking his physical symptoms.  Unable to break the bond himself, it is up to those close to Dr. Cory to end the brains run.  


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Sé Quién Eres (I know who you are)

12/2/2013

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Mario, a man diagnosed with Korsakoff’s Syndrome, uncovers lost memories of his dark past and regains the ability to form new memories with the aid of his psychiatrist Paloma.

Mario, a man who resides in a psychiatric clinic, has no memory of the last 22 years of his life and cannot form new memories.  Paloma, a new psychiatrist believes that Mario has Korsakoff’s Syndrome, a neurological illness characterized by both retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Paloma suspects that the first forgotten years of Mario’s retrograde amnesia were not caused by his illness but rather by a traumatic event and sets out to uncover these buried memories. Under the effects of increasingly larger doses of a stimulant medication, Mario remembers details of his dark past and begins forming new memories. 

Neuropsychological Review
Sé Quién Eres (I Know Who You Are)
Katherine Alvarez   

Sé Quién Eres (I Know Who You Are), is a Spanish film that  presents an interesting story concept  through it’s examination of Korsakoff’s syndrome, psychiatric amnesia and the methods used to treat these conditions, but it blurs the lines between various types of memory problems it is attempting to portray.


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Regarding Henry

6/10/2013

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Henry, a prominent defense lawyer, attempts to rebuild his life after a shooting leaves him with significant brain damage.    


Henry, an aggressive defense lawyer, is shot in the head and shoulder during a robbery. He wakes up in the hospital unable to speak, coordinate his movements, and has extensive memory loss. His doctor explains that interrupted blood flow to the brain resulted in generalized brain damage. During rehabilitation, he is able to regain some verbal ability and motor function, but not his memory. He goes home, and manages to reconnect with the family he barely remembers. He returns to work, but now has ethical concerns with his previous cases. He decides to firmly establish himself as a different person rather than attempting to identify the person he used to be.

Neuropsychological Review
Amnesia and Hollywood: Can Brain Injury Improve Your Life?
Elizabeth K. Whipple

It is a frequent scene in Hollywood, that of a hapless bystander who gets pulled into a disastrous situation that is neither his fault nor under his control.  The character must do everything in his power to rise above the situation, to learn and grow in order to overcome...



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Finding Nemo

4/18/2013

25 Comments

 
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An overprotective clownfish, aided by an amnestic blue tang fish, goes on an ocean wide journey to find his abducted son.

Marlin, an overprotective father, watches as his son Nemo is taken by a scuba diver.  On his quest to find his son, Marlin encounters an extraordinary fish named Dory who volunteers to help him find Nemo.  Dory’s anterograde amnesia (inability to form new memories) leads this dynamic duo into some unexpected and sometimes dangerous situations including surfing sea-turtles, mazes of jelly fish, and recovering fish addicted sharks.  Throughout, Marlins impatience with Dory’s deficits leads to  conflicts. However, Dory is able to remember the most vital piece of information that will help reunite Marlin with his son. 

Neuropsychological Review
Just Keep Swimming: Aquatic Advice For Coping with Amnesia
Danielle Brinckman

“I just, I remember things better with you.” Such a simple statement and yet such a poignant idea. While Finding Nemo may appear to be...


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The Bourne Identity

3/6/2013

13 Comments

 
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 A spy suffers identity loss and must use his skills to follow the clues leading back to his clandestine past.

 Jason Bourne is pulled from the sea by a passing fishing vessel, with no knowledge of who he is, or how he came to drift alone in open water.  The bullets in his back and the bank code embedded in his hip are the only bits of information to survive his identity loss.  Bourne must evade his pursuers, while slowly piecing together what few clues he can find that help uncover memories of his secret life as a government assassin.




Neuropsychological Review

An action packed "Who Am I?"
Joesph Hengoed

“Who am I?
”- Jason Bourne
Jason Bourne, trained CIA assassin, is found floating in the Mediterranean Sea with two bullets in his back and no memory of who he is or where he came from.  Jason is experiencing a complete loss of identity and complete retrograde amnesia, or the loss of his memories before the accident.   Jason’s amnesia may be due to


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Clean Slate

3/6/2013

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  A private investigator loses his identity and memory nightly after he is caught in an explosion, and must hide his condition until he can testify against a dangerous crime lord. 

  M. L. Pogue wakes up each day without any idea who he is, or what has happened the previous day.  His injury, the collateral damage of a car bomb, has left him with identity loss.  Pogue listens to a cassette recording every morning to learn who he is and what has happened.  His testimony - which he recorded prior to his injury- is vital to the District Attorney's case against Cornell, the criminal responsible for the bombing.   Pogue must keep his condition a secret or risk letting Cornell walk free.


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The Majestic

2/5/2013

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 A Hollywood writer with identity loss  (amnesia) assumes a new life while attempting to regain his memories and true identity. 

 Peter Appleton is a writer living in Hollywood during the Red Scare.  Suspected of being involved with the communist party, he is fired from his job. Emotionally distraught, he crashes his car and is knocked unconscious and swept downstream. When he washes up on the shores of a remote California town he has no idea where or who he is.  The owner of the local movie theatre, Harry, mistakes Peter for his long lost son (Lance), and, knowing no better himself, Peter begins a new life as Lance.  Together, Peter and Harry restore the dilapidated theatre to its former glory. Although the town’s people attempt to jog Lance's memory, only a trigger from Peter’s past restores his identity.


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50 First Dates

2/5/2013

28 Comments

 
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A man, in love with a woman with nightly memory loss, attempts to make a strong enough impression to overcome her disability. 

 Henry meets Lucy during breakfast one morning, and instantly falls in love.  When he sees her the next day, she has no memory of the two of them ever having met.  Henry learns that Lucy loses everything she learns during the day when she falls asleep at night – the apparent result of a car accident years ago.  Lucy, her father, and her brother constantly relive the day before her accident, to avoid the daily pain as she discovers her condition.   Henry won’t give up, and meets Lucy each morning for breakfast in an attempt to make a lasting impression.  


Neuropsychological Review
I don't know who you are, but I dream about you
Tim Daly and Mary Spiers

Lucy’s memory problems began following a car accident, which took place one year before the movie begins.  On the way home from their annual pineapple pick, Lucy and her father veer off the road to avoid a cow and Lucy suffers a head injury [00:22:48].  Lucy’s specific condition is described as Goldfield’s Syndrome, a fictional disorder created for this movie.  


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Memento

1/31/2013

9 Comments

 
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A man with severe anterograde amnesia struggles to separate the facts from lies on his quest to solve the mystery of his wife’s death.


Leonard Shelby is a happy man with a loving wife until a brutal home invasion robs him of his ability to form new memories. Now Leonard must unravel the mystery of his wife’s death using the only clues he has; notes, tattoos, and photographs. Despite living moment to moment, he is driven by revenge to find the man who attacked and raped his wife, while remaining vigilant that his condition leaves him vulnerable to exploitation. Leonard’s journey, and his anterograde amnesia, exposes the subjective nature of truth, memory, and meaning.    


Neuropsychological Review
Life Moment to Moment: Memento as a Case Study in Anterograde Amnesia
Graham Wicas 

Leonard Shelby wakes up in a hotel room. How, why, and when he arrived is a mystery to both Leonard and the viewer... 


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