It is now generally accepted: adolescent brains are different – different from children’s brains and different from adult brains too.
Puberty, it seems, reshapes not only the body but also the brain so that adolescent brains undergo a period of both structural and functional development, with some systems apparently maturing faster than others.
Take the areas of the brain associated with self-regulation: in other words, with focusing attention, planning, assessing risk and inhibiting inappropriate responses. It seems that these areas are still immature at the start of adolescence, and undergo a clear growth spurt just before and through the teenage years.
Could immaturity in these areas of the brain contribute to the impulsive, irresponsible and risky behaviour so common in adolescence? What implications might this have for education and society?
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