How To Academy Podcast Neuroscientist Mark Solms - Was Freud Right?
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Apr 17, 2026 
Mark Solms, pioneering neuropsychologist linking brain science and psychoanalytic thought. He revisits Freud’s ideas through modern neuroscience. Topics include why Freud was rejected, the resurgence of studying subjective feelings, how dreams tie to brain reward systems, limits of drugs versus talking therapies, and how early emotional experiences shape lifelong mental life.
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Freud Defended Subjective Mind As Science
- Freud studied subjectivity rather than shrinking psychology to behavior, defending that inner experience is a legitimate object of science.
- Mark Solms argues Freud adjusted methods to study lived mental life, which made him scientifically suspect but uniquely valuable.
Drugs Treat Symptoms Not Causes
- Psychopharmacological drugs are symptomatic palliatives that relieve feelings but usually do not cure underlying causes of mental disorders.
- Solms notes drugs often require long-term use with side effects and symptoms typically return when stopped.
Psychoanalysis Shows Lasting Sleeper Effect
- Talking therapies address causes and have more durable effects than drugs, with psychoanalysis producing the strongest and longest-lasting gains.
- Psychoanalysis uniquely shows a sleeper effect where patients improve further after treatment ends.
