Real Art Ways Hartford, CT
Dr. John Salamone
Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Connecticut
Awakenings— How Drugs are Used to Treat Various Neurological Conditions
Program Description
A discussion of the science behind behavioral pharmacology: the study of how drugs affect the functioning of neurotransmitters to treat various neurological conditions.
Presented At
Real Art Ways Hartford, CT
Film Synopsis
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.
Based on a true story as told by neurologist Oliver Sacks, Awakenings follows Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams), who works at a Bronx psychiatric hospital in 1969. There he's put in charge of several seemingly catatonic patients who, under Sayer's careful guidance, begin responding to certain stimuli. Sayer is then given permission to test a new drug called L-DOPA, effective in treating those suffering from degenerative diseases. One of his patients, Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), has not communicated with anyone since lapsing into catatonia as a child. Gradually, Lowe comes out of his shell, encouraging Sayers to administer L-DOPA to the other patients under his care, who must learn to cope with a new life in a new time.
About the Speaker
A neuroscientist and professor at the University of Connecticut, Dr. John Salamone studies the neurotransmitter dopamine and its role in brain function, motor coordination, and motivation. Problems with dopamine are at the root of Parkinson’s disease, which Salamone has studied extensively, and a lesser-known disease called encephalitis lethargica.