When Anger Turns Inward: Alain Resnais, Henri Laborit, and the Neuroscience of Depression

In an essay published by the Rubin Museum, neuroscientist Leah Kelly explores the intersection of art, science, and psychology through the lens of Alain Resnais's 1971 film 'Mon oncle d'Amérique' and the theories of French physiologist Henri Laborit. The film interweaves the lives of three characters with Laborit's experiments on rats, illustrating his concept of 'inhibition de l'action': when an organism cannot fight or flee, stress turns inward, leading to self-destructive behavior. Kelly connects Laborit's 1970s rodent studies to modern depression research, particularly the 'Chronic Social Defeat Stress' protocol, where male mice are repeatedly attacked by aggressive residents, inducing a depressive state. She notes that female mice are made depressed by watching males fight, reflecting higher antidepressant prescription rates in women. The essay also discusses the evolution of depression theories from the monoamine hypothesis, centered on serotonin, to recent focus on the extracellular matrix (ECM) surrounding neurons. Kelly highlights that 11% of Americans take antidepressants, with 64% being SSRIs. The piece concludes with a reflection on Laborit's early work as a naval surgeon and the film's ending mural in the Bronx, symbolizing the inward ramification of inhibited anger. Leah Kelly is a neuroscientist at Rockefeller University and cocurated the 2014 Impakt Festival.