#51 Meet the Scientist Proving Dreams Hold the Key to Consciousness! Dr Mark Solms

Mark Solms is a neuroscientist, psychoanalyst, and author of The Hidden Spring, one of the most influential books on consciousness in recent years.He revolutionised sleep science by proving that dreaming isn’t confined to REM sleep, and he founded the field of neuropsychoanalysis — bridging Freud with modern neuroscience. Today, his radical claim is that consciousness begins not with thoughts in the cortex, but with feelings deep in the ancient brainstem.Expect to learn why dreams are inseparable from consciousness, what dreaming reveals about the brain’s hidden functions, why feelings are the fundamental form of awareness, how cortical blindness can vanish in dreams, why consciousness is not optional but essential for survival, how the brainstem generates our inner life, whether AI could ever truly be conscious, and why the first computers that “give a damn” may be closer than you think…Timestamps:00:00 – Trailer & Introduction02:15 – Why Dreams and Consciousness Are Intertwined05:10 – The Mystery of Dream Narratives08:02 – Why Blind People Still See in Their Dreams11:15 – Do Dreams Protect Our Sleep?14:00 – Why Feelings Are the Core of Consciousness17:22 – Consciousness as a Survival Necessity20:05 – The Cortex Myth: Why Thinking Isn’t Enough23:11 – Brainstem Circuits That Generate Awareness26:20 – Are Animals With Brainstems Conscious?29:40 – Could Artificial Intelligence Become Conscious?33:05 – Building Computers That “Give a Damn”36:45 – How Dream Science Rewrites Freud’s Legacy40:12 – What Dreams Reveal About Mental Health44:00 – Why Psychoanalysis Still Matters in Neuroscience47:33 – The Hidden Spring: A Blueprint for Consciousness52:18 – Consciousness Without a Cortex: What It Means for Patients56:04 – What the Science of Dreams Gets Wrong59:42 – From Dopamine to Desire: The Chemistry of Dreaming1:04:20 – Can We Ever Explain the Strange Logic of Dreams?1:08:35 – Why Consciousness Will Always Be About Feeling1:12:48 – How Solms Thinks About AI and Mental Health1:17:15 – Consciousness, Free Will, and the Human Condition1:21:09 – What People Misunderstand About Freud Today1:25:44 – Where Consciousness Research Is Heading Next1:29:58 – Final Thoughts & Why Dreams Still Matter...📚 RECOMMENDED READINGThe Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness: https://amzn.to/41bH1Ii…Neuroscience Products I Swear By (Supports the Channel)Sentia Spirits: https://sentiaspirits.com/mcgloughlin4209355084Manta Sleep Mask: Get the Comfiest Sleep Mask on the Planet (Use Code GIANTSMANTA10 https://bit.ly/4ilzfBL )Brain.FM: Music Entrainment for Focused Deep Work (30 Day Free Trial: https://www.brain.fm/giantsshoulder)Consensus.AI: https://get.consensus.app/we00d2cmjpqeFollow My Neuroscience Podcast - The Giants Shoulder Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5m3Gta5MtIYdk59pb2GJ7M?si=b33232eae67b4126Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/brief-enquiry-to-the-brain/id1752486249