The World of the Teenage Brain: Maybe Not So Wild Afterall

 

Why do teenagers do the wild and crazy things they do? Well, for a long time, parents, teachers, and others who have to deal with 13-to-19-year-olds on a regular basis have suggested, only half-jokingly, that it may be because teenagers are simply brain dead. No, not brain dead, answers new advances in neuroscience, but simply decidedly brain different.

In fact, with an eye of evolution, it may be those almost unfathomable actions summoned from the brain that actually allow teenagers to become successful adults. And those findings were the subject today of an NPR edition of Talk of the Nation radio show which aired live from the National Geographic auditorium. NPR host Neal Conan directed questions to David Dobbs, author of October's National Geographic magazine story "Beautiful Brains" and brain researchers Dr. Jay Geidd and B. J. Casey.

Dobbs says science now is able to show that the teenage brain is dominated by three tastes. "The teen brain is not broken," Dobbs said. "But teenagers are driven by a taste for risks, a taste for peers, and a taste for novelty."

The writer added that it may a reliance on those 3 areas that allow a teenager to leave the comfort and safety of his or her home and independently begin making a way in the world. Admitting that almost all teenagers, including his own, appear reckless and moody, it may these and similiar characteristics that actually help teens "negotiate their surroundings."

Dobbs says research has dismissed the often-held idea that teenagers act the way they do because the believe they are both invincible and invulnerable. "Teens know that they can die, but they perceive the rewards (of certain actions) outweigh the risks," Dobbs said.

Geidd says teens reliance on peer opinion, while not always the wisest course of action,  makes scientific sense. "Teenagers realize this is the cohort you will live with as an adult," Geidd said. "It also shows the absolute importance of human connection."

The researcher also pointed out that advances in technology have complicated the maturity process. "(With the internet) we have had more advances (in available information) in the past 10 years than we did during the previous 570 years since Gutenberg (invented the printing press)," Geidd said. "You have these Stone Age tendencies intersecting with these modern marvels."

So, with brain functioning a scientific fact, what are the parents of teenagers to do? Geidd said that the key is instilling responsibility in young people for their actions. "It's a question of when to intervene and how to intervene," Dobbs added. .

All 3 panelists agreed that modeling and leading by example are the best ways to get teenagers to act responsibly. Carey cited an example from her own life. When her teenage son wanted to get a tattoo, Casey didn't rant and rave.  Instead she told her son, "I'll go with you and I'll get the same tattoo." And did that work, she was asked? "Well, he didn't get the tattoo," she replied.

Travelers' Tip:

Obviously, one of the reasons to travel is to do things you haven't done before.  Now, as both a journalist and an educator, I have had the opportunity to participate in radio programs, but I had never witnessed a live broadcast with a large studio audience. And with its multiple laptops, many monitors, and orchestrated applause breaks, it was an entertaining exercise.  If you would like to hear the broadcast its entirety, you can click here.