Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Sigmund Freud is often dismissed today as a pseudoscientist. But what if the basic architecture of the mind that Freud sketched out in the 1890s turns out to match what modern neuroscience is discovering all over again, just under different names?
In this talk, neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms makes the case that Freud was, in broad strokes, one of the first functional neuroscientists. Long before he became known for psychoanalysis, Freud spent two decades mapping the nervous system, and Solms argues that this early work laid the foundation for ideas we now treat as cutting-edge: functionalism, multiple memory systems, the unconscious mind, critical periods of development, and even the "predictive processing" models at the frontier of theoretical neuroscience today.
But Solms doesn't let Freud off the hook. He also walks through where Freud got it badly wrong, including what he calls one of psychoanalysis' biggest errors: the claim that all pleasure is fundamentally sexual.
Watch the Q&A session here: youtu.be/tdidbgt9EJ0
Mark Solms is a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst whose work includes discovering the brain mechanisms of dreaming. He is the translator of the Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (2024) and Science Director of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
His book, The Only Cure: Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing, is available here: geni.us/Fd1g9VF
This talk was filmed at the Royal Institution on 13 July 2026.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction: Freud, the forgotten neuroscientist
01:08 Freud's early career: from nerve cells to language and the brain
06:28 Functionalism: Freud's idea before it had a name
09:47 Subjectivity and the hard problem of consciousness
13:57 The discovery of multiple memory systems (and the unconscious)
21:05 Critical periods and why you can't remember being a baby
24:01 Drives, the body, and the roots of predictive processing
32:37 Where Freud got it badly wrong: the sexuality error
44:04 How the talking cure actually works
🔗 Buy Mark Solms' book: geni.us/Fd1g9VF
🔗 Subscribe to the Ri for more talks like this: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
🔗 Become a Friend of the Ri and support science for everyone: youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
#Psychoanalysis #Neuroscience #Freud #Psychology #RoyalInstitution #Consciousness #psychology
The Ri is on Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
Sigmund Freud is often dismissed today as a pseudoscientist. But what if the basic architecture of the mind that Freud sketched out in the 1890s turns out to match what modern neuroscience is discovering all over again, just under different names?
In this talk, neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst Mark Solms makes the case that Freud was, in broad strokes, one of the first functional neuroscientists. Long before he became known for psychoanalysis, Freud spent two decades mapping the nervous system, and Solms argues that this early work laid the foundation for ideas we now treat as cutting-edge: functionalism, multiple memory systems, the unconscious mind, critical periods of development, and even the "predictive processing" models at the frontier of theoretical neuroscience today.
But Solms doesn't let Freud off the hook. He also walks through where Freud got it badly wrong, including what he calls one of psychoanalysis' biggest errors: the claim that all pleasure is fundamentally sexual.
Watch the Q&A session here: youtu.be/tdidbgt9EJ0
Mark Solms is a neuroscientist and psychoanalyst whose work includes discovering the brain mechanisms of dreaming. He is the translator of the Revised Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud (2024) and Science Director of the American Psychoanalytic Association.
His book, The Only Cure: Freud and the Neuroscience of Mental Healing, is available here: geni.us/Fd1g9VF
This talk was filmed at the Royal Institution on 13 July 2026.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction: Freud, the forgotten neuroscientist
01:08 Freud's early career: from nerve cells to language and the brain
06:28 Functionalism: Freud's idea before it had a name
09:47 Subjectivity and the hard problem of consciousness
13:57 The discovery of multiple memory systems (and the unconscious)
21:05 Critical periods and why you can't remember being a baby
24:01 Drives, the body, and the roots of predictive processing
32:37 Where Freud got it badly wrong: the sexuality error
44:04 How the talking cure actually works
🔗 Buy Mark Solms' book: geni.us/Fd1g9VF
🔗 Subscribe to the Ri for more talks like this: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
🔗 Become a Friend of the Ri and support science for everyone: youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
#Psychoanalysis #Neuroscience #Freud #Psychology #RoyalInstitution #Consciousness #psychology
The Ri is on Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
