The medicalization of mental disorders has led to an increasingly accepted role of genes and to an increasingly diminished role of the environment in determining mental health. Curiously, this shifting emphasis in explaining the origins of psychopathology has not been accompanied by a concurrent shift towards genetic explanations of non-pathological human mental life and behavior. Prof. Kliethermes discusses how genes and the environment can interact to produce normal and pathological behavior, and the limited implication this interaction has on concepts like individuality and free will.

Christopher Kliethermes earned a B.S. in Psychology and Biology from Lincoln University, and a Ph.D. Behavioral Neuroscience from Oregon Health & Science University. His primary areas of study are behavior genetics and neuropharmacology. He currently teaches introductory psychology, introduction to neuroscience, research methods in neuroscience, behavior genetics, and neurochemistry at Drake University.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx