The teenage brain
Presenter: Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Published: November 2013
Age: 14-19 and upwards
Views: 798 views
Tags: brain;chemistry;teenage;MRI;adolescence
Type: Lectures
Source/institution: Royal Society
Watch now
Until recently, little was known about how the human brain develops. In the past 15 years, new technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have enabled us to gain insights into how the human brain changes across the lifespan. Research has demonstrated that brain development is much more protracted than previously thought, continuing in some regions throughout adolescence and early adulthood. Some parts of the brain undergo a period of reorganisation during the teenage years, both in terms of structure, function and related behaviour. These new insights into neurocognitive development suggest that adolescence is a period of profound change and opportunity. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a Royal Society University Research Fellow and Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at UCL.
