Spring 2020 James Heydecker

The document summarizes a TED Talk about how neural pathways can be modified to improve mental health and behavior. The talk discussed experiments on mice where their environment was altered to expand their comfort zone and influence their behavior. It notes that changing behaviors, thoughts, and actions can impact each other in a complex relationship. While the approach suggests promise in modifying neural pathways rather than just relying on medication, the document argues that changing pathways may not be easy for humans and medication still has a role to play. The overall assessment is that the talk presents an idealistic vision that could help more people if realized, but may be difficult to achieve.

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Spring 2020 James Heydecker

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James Heydecker

Dr. Fenlon

General Psychology

May 15, 2020

Mental Health TED Talk Response

The TED Talk I watched was the one by Kay M. Tye, on how Neural pathways can be

modified to improve one’s behavior and mental health. I found myself intrigued by the light

experiments done to the mouse. The mouse had an area of safety, its comfort zone, and when the

environment outside of that comfort zone is made to seem safer to the mouse. Rather than drug

treatments the speaker researched, the effect was immediate and done in regards to behavior.

Understanding the behaviors we have and how they affect our actions and our thinking is critical

to improving our individual situations. It is a strange sort of trifecta, where our actions can

change our thinking, our thinking can cement behaviors, and our behaviors reinforce our actions.

Rather than trying to try a host of medicines that no one can hope to pronounce, we need to also

focus on the actions and behaviors we exhibit. As the speaker puts it, the neural pathways can be

changed in order to improve one’s behavior, rather than relying on medication to solve the

problem. The other experiment was also incredibly cool, as it implies that there is a way to stop

overeating through the manipulation of one’s own neural pathways. The fact that all it took was

some minor behavioral changes in the mouse was interesting, as it made it seem rather simply.

Although, it must be noted that a mouse is far less complex than a human, so the process would

likely be far more complicated.

I do not know if I entirely agree with the way she views mental health, however. It is a

very positive outlook, and I do wish it were as easy as she seems to make it. I do not think it
would ever be that easy, however, nor do I think that medication should be entirely disregarded. I

believe it is a matter of changing one’s behavior as well as taking the medication needed to

correct a chemical imbalance. The paths neural pathways might be changeable, but that does not

mean it is easy to do so. It is a matter of trail and error, but instead of just medication it is

struggling to get through each wall. Ideally the errors are not massive pitfalls, but rather a block

where one must identify why they are stuck for whatever reason. She does, however, have a view

of revolutionizing psychological treatment into a way of changing neural pathways are rerouted

in order to correct various mental health issues. Yet that seems so far away, so for now it seems

like a utopian view. However, if a view like this leads to more people getting the help they need,

then that would be incredibly beneficial, and at the end of the talk she makes exactly this point. It