Neuroscience in Fiction: Total Recall

“I was sent in as a security measure. I'm afraid to tell you this Mr. Quaid, but you have suffered a schizoid embolism, we can't snap you out of your fantasy. I was sent here to try to talk you down”. -Dr. Edgemar, Total Recall (1990)

After a long hiatus, Steve and I are back on the blogosphere. We intend to blog Monday through Friday, usually taking turns, about the interaction of neuroscience and daily experience. One daily, or at least weekly, experience that we enjoy is fiction. We are avid book readers and movie watchers, and many of our favorite books and movies have a neuroscience core, or relate to neuroscience in some way. On Fridays, we’ll recommend a neuroscience-y book or movie that you can check out during the weekend.

Post here if you’d like to discuss it.

This Friday’s recommendation is the new Total Recall movie, in theaters today. The 1990 version, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a sci fi revelation, and I hope the remake will deliver! Without giving away too many spoilers, the story centers on the fallibility of memory and our limitations to link subjective experience to objective reality.

For extra credit, read Philip K. Dick’s original story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale”.

-Susana Martinez-Conde