Doctor Who returns to the BBC this Saturday, this time with Peter Capaldi in the title role. There has been much fanfare around this, as you may have noticed already. Given that it’s one of the world’s most popular and long running sci-fi programmes, it’s very common for those in the science world to try and sneak some actual science into the fanfare surrounding the show, like an accountant photobombing an A-list movie star. And that’s essentially what this blog is doing.

Previous attempts to use Doctor Who to promote science always seems to focus on the physics aspect. However, the show also includes some very advanced neuroscience too.

One of the main appeals of Doctor Who is that he is largely non-violent and solves problems/defeats foes using superior intelligence and cognitive abilities rather than force. Time Lords are capable of neurological feats and performances that mere humans have no hope of emulating. They clearly have superior brains, but what of the actual science that would underpin these impressive thinking engines? Well, that’s what this article hopes to explore. You have been warned.

[As an aside, I am not one of the “hardcore” fans. I’ve tried to do as thorough a job with the research as possible, but apologies in advance for the bits I inevitably get wrong about the source material.]

The Time Vortex

Despite the erratic and occasionally inconsistent information available about the origin of Time Lords, one common theme is that the Time Vortex is involved. This vortex is the means by which the Time Lords travel through time and space, apparently being some sort of dimension or realm underlying and connecting the whole universe. It is clearly highly energetic, and Time Lords are constantly exposed to it from an early age. This interaction with the vortex supposedly led to the present form of the Time Lords (if such a term can be applied to a species that treats causality like humans treat instruction manuals), and when they die they leave behind a sort of “tear” in spacetime, rather than just physical remains.

Clearly, Time Lord biology is shaped and dependent on this close association with some hitherto unknown (to humans) realm of physics and reality, which means all bets are off with regards to what we’d consider to be biological “limitations”.

Time Lord brain size

Many sources state that Time Lords have much bigger brains than humans. However, Time Lords are physically indistinguishable from humans. Ergo, we have the same size skulls. The human brain occupies pretty much all available space in a human skull and any increase in size causes serious problems, so it’s difficult to see where Time Lords would be keeping these more voluminous brains.

But then, there’s that Time Vortex thing again. And the fact that Time Lords become strongly linked to their Tardis. One of the main features of a Tardis (other than “can travel anywhere in space and time” thing) is that they’re bigger on the inside than the outside. Should such a feature also cross over to Time Lord anatomy, then their skulls could easily house a bigger brain without looking different from the outside.

Time Lord Brain speed and complexity

Time Lords may have bigger brains, but that doesn’t mean faster or more powerful. Dolphins have bigger brains than humans, but aren’t automatically smarter. Time Lords can perform frighteningly fast deductions and calculations, memorise every minor detail of events, instantly take in massive amounts of information, communicate telepathically, transfer knowledge directly to others, and so on. Humans can do very few of these.

Human and Time Lord physiology isn’t THAT different; we eat the same food, breathe the same air, have the same body structure. Human brains can hold Time Lord minds (albeit temporarily), so we can assume there’s some overlap in how they work. Human brains function via processes occurring in/between neurons, which communicate across synapses via neurotransmitters, chemical signals that convey information. This system is incredibly fast by our standards, but would be under-powered for Time Lord needs. While it’s something of a cliché when faced with fantastical concepts that science doesn’t support, for Time Lord brains we may have to invoke “quantum”.

Quantum consciousness isn’t a new idea. Evidence of it has even been claimed in humans. While it’s been largely a “fringe science” theory, we’re talking beings that evolved next to the Time Vortex. Quantum processes offer instantaneous communication between separate cells, and if you don’t need to worry about physical connections, you get a lot more complexity in the same volume of space. If you’ve got a brain that is essentially a quantum computer, there’s no telling what it could do.

Time Lord metabolism

Time Lords do still have real, squishy human-like bodies, so clearly still require sustainable links to the biological world as we know it. Given that Time Lords eat and breathe like we do, they should have similar metabolisms. The human brain consumes an alarming amount of our body’s energy, so Time Lord brains would need a great deal more energy again.

Time Lords may be capable of extracting more energy from food, and there’s no telling what they get from the Time Vortex connection. But all this metabolic energy has to be physically conveyed to the brain, via the blood supply. To keep a Time Lord brain functioning in a human-like body would require a far more rapid and efficient blood supply. One heart probably couldn’t sustain it; you’d need at least two.

Regeneration

One of the more fascinating (and casting-convenient) abilities of Time Lords is that if they are about to succumb to either injury or old-age, they can undergo a full regeneration; their entire body is replaced with a whole new one, without the injuries/maladies that were killing the last one. One fascinating aspect of this process is that it imbues the Time Lord with a whole new personality; they are effectively a different person. But they still retain all their memories. If all the other organs are different, and their personality is different, it suggests the brain would be changed too. And memories (in humans at least) are supported by connections between brain cells. So if the brain changes, why don’t memories?

It could be that Time Lord memories are stored “externally”, via whatever connection they have with the Time Vortex, leading to a clear demonstration of dualism. Alternatively, Time Lord brains are supposedly far more compartmentalised; different areas can operate individually. It’s possible the brain region supporting memory remains unchanged, but the rest does not. In either case, it would explain the confusion and vulnerability following regeneration; the new brain is trying to form workable connections with old memories, which would no doubt be disorientating, especially for a Time Lord with so many memories to incorporate.

Time Lord DNA

The key to all of this may be the Time Lord DNA. Time Lord DNA is supposedly triple-stranded. But it may be even more profound. There are several elements that suggest Time Lord DNA is not a simple chemical data store.

Time Lords are consciously aware of and can control their internal organs. Time Lord DNA is incredibly sought after; advanced alien races would tear worlds apart for a single Time Lord cell. A whole new Time Lord can be generated from a severed limb. Transfer of Time Lord DNA into a human imbues the human with the entire Time Lord mind.

All of this could be explained if the Time Lord DNA were conscious itself. DNA computing is a well known scientific prospect; DNA could well prove to be more powerful than silicon processors, according to many. If the Time Lord consciousness is distributed throughout their body via their DNA it would explain nearly everything discussed so far. A single DNA molecule could hold a Time Lord’s entire knowledge, which would explain why it’s so powerful and sought after. And if DNA could actively repair itself, it would cover Time Lord immunity to radiation and lack of ageing. It could even reconfigure itself to provide the regeneration.

If Time Lord DNA provides the link between their brains and the Time Vortex, it could explain everything. If it was real. Which, apparently, it isn’t. Still, it’s a lot of fun though.

Dean Burnett apologises in advance to all fans he’s offended by getting things wrong. He is a Doctor, Who is on Twitter (see what I did there?). @garwboy