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.  

An expert dream thief must do the impossible task of implanting an idea into someone else’s sleeping mind. 

Cobb is the best information extractor in the business.  He steals valuable information from the subconscious during sleep, when it is believed the mind is most susceptible to threats.  Cobb is given the opportunity to reunite with his children if he completes one last job that is said to be impossible.  Instead of stealing information, Cobb must do the reverse and plant an idea into the target's mind.  Cobb and his team travel deep into their target's dream levels to pull off this daunting task.


   

A writer, down on his luck, is introduced to a wonder drug that increases his brain power and helps him turn his life around.

Eddie Morra’s life is falling apart – he can’t finish his book and his girlfriend has left him.  A chance encounter with his ex-brother-in-law introduces him to a new drug that will change Eddie’s life.  The pill enhances his brain functioning, allowing Eddie to easily access remote memories, make quick connections between observations, and become generally more cognizant.  He is able to finish his book in mere days before turning his sights on the stock market.  Soon, his quick rise to success and wealth gets the attention of some dangerous individuals.  Eddy must deal with the life threatening side effects of the drug while evading those that would steal his secret and see him dead.  

Neuropsychological Review
Neuroenhancement:  Do “Smart Pills” have Limits?
Mary V. Spiers 

 Previously published  in Spiers, M.V. (2011) Neuroenhancement: Do "Smart Pills" Have Limits?”[Review of the Film Limitless, 2011] PsycCRITIQUES, 56(31). Doi:10.1037/a0024650.
Copyright APA.  This article may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal. It is not the copy of record.

What if there was a “smart pill” that could make you excel at everything?  Limitless (2011) examines the power of the mind and how one struggling writer, Eddie Morra, played by Bradley Cooper, deals with his newfound super-mental powers.  The film begins by re-asserting the popular myth that we use only a small portion of our brain’s potential (Beyerstein, 1999) and 
proceeds to show both the upside and downside of neuroenhancement...