Ragtag Cinema Columbia, MO
Brett Froeliger
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri; Director, Cognitive Neuroscience Systems core facility
A Scanner Darkly— Addiction: A condition of neural dissonance
Program Description
Brett Froeliger, PhD, of the University of Missouri's Department of Psychiatry & Psychological Sciences presents a pre-film discussion focusing on drug addiction as a condition of neural dissonance.
Presented At
Ragtag Cinema Columbia, MO
Film Synopsis
An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
Based on the novel of the same name by Philip K. Dick, A Scanner Darkly tells the story of a near-future dystopia in which America has virtually lost the war on drugs. Robert Arctor (Keanu Reeves), a narcotics cop in Orange County, California, is undercover so deep that he has become an addict. He is wooing Donna (Winona Ryder), a dealer, to ferret out her supplier. At the same time, he receives orders to spy on his housemates (Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Rory Cochrane), one of whom is suspected of being Donna's biggest customer.
Photo credit: Warner Brothers
About the Speaker
Brett Froeliger is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Psychological Sciences, and Director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Systems core facility at the University of Missouri (MU). He joined the faculty at MU in 2020 after spending the prior 12 years working at medical schools in the southeast U.S. His NIH funded program of research is focused on using brain imaging techniques to evaluate the effects of addictive drugs on the brain, and examine the potential value of novel treatments for drug addiction. Treatment modalities focus on three areas: non-invasive neural stimulation, mindfulness and yoga, and medication development.