INSIDE TEENAGE BRAIN : EXPLAINING RISKY BEHAVIOR
It's common knowledge
that teenage boys seem predisposed to risky behaviors. Now, a series of new
studies is shedding light on specific brain mechanisms that help to explain
what might be going on inside juvenile male brains
Florida State
University College of Medicine Neuroscientist Pradeep Bhide brought together
some of the world's foremost researchers in a quest to explain why teenagers --
boys, in particular -- often behave erratically.
The result is a series
of 19 studies that approached the question from multiple scientific domains,
including psychology, neurochemistry, brain imaging, clinical neuroscience and
neurobiology. The studies are published in a special volume of Developmental
Neuroscience, "Teenage Brains: Think Different?"
"Psychologists,
psychiatrists, educators, neuroscientists, criminal justice professionals and
parents are engaged in a daily struggle to understand and solve the enigma of
teenage risky behaviors," Bhide said. "Such behaviors impact not only
the teenagers who obviously put themselves at serious and lasting risk but also
families and societies in general.
"The emotional
and economic burdens of such behaviors are quite huge. The research described
in this book offers clues to what may cause such maladaptive behaviors and how
one may be able to devise methods of countering, avoiding or modifying these
behaviors."
An example of findings
published in the book that provide new insights about the inner workings of a teenage
boy's brain:
Unlike children or adults, teenage boys show
enhanced activity in the part of the brain that controls emotions when
confronted with a threat. Magnetic resonance scanner readings in one study
revealed that the level of activity in the limbic brain of adolescent males
reacting to threat, even when they've been told not to respond to it, was
strikingly different from that in adult men.
Using brain activity measurements, another
team of researchers found that teenage boys were mostly immune to the threat of
punishment but hypersensitive to the possibility of large gains from gambling.
The results question the effectiveness of punishment as a deterrent for risky
or deviant behavior in adolescent boys.
Another study
demonstrated that a molecule known to be vital in developing fear of dangerous
situations is less active in adolescent male brains. These findings point
towards neurochemical differences between teenage and adult brains, which may
underlie the complex behaviors exhibited by teenagers.
"The new studies
illustrate the neurobiological basis of some of the more unusual but well-known
behaviors exhibited by our teenagers," Bhide said. "Stress, hormonal
changes, complexities of psycho-social environment and peer-pressure all contribute
to the challenges of assimilation faced by teenagers.
"These studies
attempt to isolate, examine and understand some of these potential causes of a
teenager's complex conundrum. The research sheds light on how we may be able to
better interact with teenagers at home or outside the home, how to design
educational strategies and how best to treat or modify a teenager's maladaptive
behavior."
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