Are brains really pink?

Moment of Um

American Public Media

Kids & Family, Education For Kids

4.4 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2025

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Quick, picture a brain! Did you imagine a rosy-colored little meatball? Us too! But are brains actually pink when they’re inside our skulls? We asked brain expert Gwenaëlle Thomas to help us find the answer.

Got a question that’s giving you a real headache? Send it to us at BrainsOn.org/contact, and we’ll wrap our brains around it!

Transcript

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0:00.0	From the brains behind brains on, this is the Moment of Um.
0:08.0	Moment of Um comes to you from APM Studios. I'm Thelonious T Thacker, unbelievably gorgeous Persian cat and noted movie critic.
0:19.0	Um.
0:25.5	You might recognize me from my award-winning movie reviews for outlets such as the Miao York Times and the Huffington Scratching Post. One of the reasons why I'm so successful
0:32.3	is that I'm incredibly detail-oriented. When I'm watching a movie, nothing gets past me. Like the other day,
0:40.3	I was sitting down to watch a movie about the American Revolution, and one of the soldiers was wearing
0:46.2	a scrunchy in the 1700s. Scrunchies hadn't even been invented yet.
0:56.4	Well, let's see what's on TV today, shall we?
1:00.9	Hmm.
1:02.0	Haven't seen this movie yet.
1:03.9	The brains from outer space.
1:07.2	Hmm.
1:08.6	Oh, but cheap side effects.
1:11.9	And those brains, they're neon pink.
1:15.3	Are brains even pink?
1:18.0	One of my many fans wrote in the other day to ask the very same thing.
1:23.0	Hello, my name's Olivia.
1:24.9	I'm from Elgin, Illinois.
1:26.3	My question is, are brains really pink?
1:29.0	My name is Guanayal Thomas, and I'm a neuroscientist.
1:34.3	Brains really are pink, but that also has to do with the way that we perceive blood flowing through
1:42.7	and the way that light is going to be reflecting off the
	...

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