Cogprints

Through A Scanner Darkly: Neuropsychology and psychosis in Philip K. Dick's novel "A Scanner Darkly"

Bell, V (2006) Through A Scanner Darkly: Neuropsychology and psychosis in Philip K. Dick's novel "A Scanner Darkly". [Journal (Paginated)]

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
 PDF
57Kb

Abstract

Partly motivated by his increasing brushes with psychosis, by the early 1970s the science fiction author Philip K. Dick was struggling with increasing doubts over the nature of reality and personal identity. Perhaps unsurprisingly, characters with unstable worlds and existential doubts are a familiar focus of his work. Dick was interested in more than just description however, and often used his novels to explore personal theories of existence. During his research, he discovered the work of Roger Sperry, who had rocked the foundations of neuroscience by discovering that when separated, the hemispheres of the brain seemed, at least to some degree, independently conscious. Worried about his own perception of reality, Dick considered that this could explain his increasing feelings of alienation and self-detachment. These reflections resulted in A Scanner Darkly, a partly autobiographical near-future novel that remains an incisive commentary on society, psychosis and the brain.

Item Type:Journal (Paginated)
Keywords:neuropsychology, psychosis, scanner darkly, Philip K. Dick, PKD
Subjects:Psychology > Clinical Psychology
ID Code:5021
Deposited By: Bell, V
Deposited On:01 Aug 2006
Last Modified:11 Mar 2011 08:56

References in Article

Select the SEEK icon to attempt to find the referenced article. If it does not appear to be in cogprints you will be forwarded to the paracite service. Poorly formated references will probably not work.

Butler, A.M. (2000) The Pocket Essential Philip K Dick. London: Pocket Essentials.

Carrère, E. (2004) I Am Alive and You Are Dead: A Journey Into the Mind of Philip K. Dick. (T. Bent, trans.). New York: Metropolitan Books.

Dimond, S.J. (1979) Disconnection and psychopathology. In J. Gruzelier and P. Flor-Henry (eds) Hemisphere Asymmetries of Function in Psychopathology. Oxford: Elsevier.

Enoch, D. & Ball, H. (2001) Ekbom's Syndrome (Delusional parasitosis). In Enoch, D. & Ball, H. Uncommon psychiatric syndromes (4th edition). pp209-223. London: Arnold.

Gur, R.E. & Chin, S. (1999) Laterality in functional brain imaging studies of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 25, 141-156.

Laing, R.D. & Esterson, A. (1964) Sanity, Madness and the Family. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Pelican Books.

Pantelis, C., Velakoulis, D., McGorry, P.D., Wood, S.J, Suckling, J., Phillips, L.J., Yung, A.R., Bullmore, E.T, Brewer, W., Soulsby, B., Desmond, P. & McGuire, P.K. (2003) Neuroanatomical abnormalities before and after onset of psychosis: a cross-sectional and longitudinal MRI comparison. Lancet, 25, 361 (9354), 281-8.

Sperry, R.W. (1993) Roger W. Sperry Nobel Lecture, 8 December 1981. In T. Frängsmyr and J. Lindsten (eds) Nobel Lectures, Physiology or Medicine 1981-1990. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co.

Stanghellini, G. (2004) Disembodied Spirits and Deanimated Bodies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Metadata

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Cogprints is powered by EPrints 3 which is developed by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. More information and software credits.