Lina Begdache, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Kids often crave processed sugary foods. But research shows that consuming too many treats during childhood and adolescence may lead to behavioral and emotional problems.
Social disadvantage can cause stress that leads to changes in ‘connectivity’ between brain regions, potentially harming adolescents’ ability to plan, set goals, and self-reflect.
The adolescent brain is particularly vulnerable to experience. Puberty is is the time brain networks are hardwired around milestone events. We should help teenagers make meaning of the pandemic.
Teens get a bad rap as selfish, dangerous risk-takers. But neuroscience and psychology research is revising that image: Adolescents are primed to help those around them, with positive benefits for all.
Researchers tracked adolescents’ sleep and scanned their brains. As expected, better sleep went with healthy brain development. Unexpected was the importance of one aspect of where teens slept.
Almost a third of American adolescents have anxiety disorders. Researchers in developmental neuroscience are figuring out that how the brain matures over time may be part of the reason why.
Darby Saxbe, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Experiencing and witnessing violence in their communities can lead to emotional, social and cognitive problems for kids. A new study shows it affects how their developing brains grow, as well.
Teens’ brains develop different skills along a predictable timeline. These milestones should influence the legal age boundaries for voting, buying guns and being put to death.
Adolescents have important developmental work to do. Despite what worried grownups think, taking needless risks isn’t the goal for teens. Being risky is part of exploring and learning about the world.
In recent years, the notion of a structurally imbalanced teenage brain has been faulted for bad choices. A review of studies suggests that a deficit in brain development is not to blame.