Jun 16, 2016 06:09 AM
https://aeon.co/ideas/why-the-brains-of-...king-risks
EXCERPT: Labs around the world have long shown that the adolescent brain is special – that teens are not simply mini-adults or overgrown children, neurobiologically speaking. Early on, the field focused on the potentially negative effects of greater arousability in the adolescent brain and its impact on real-life risk-taking behaviour. But research emerging from our lab at the University of California, Los Angeles shows that the neural sensitivity to risk in adolescence can actually help the teenager make optimal choices and better evaluate options – even better than adults. [...] Our lab has confirmed that during adolescence, the brain goes through a unique developmental period, expressing profound strengths and weaknesses that set teens apart. [...] Although there is variability in the risk-taking behaviours they engage in, most adolescents are risk-takers! This is not necessarily a bad thing because many important life lessons are learned through trial and error, but it becomes problematic when the risk-taking leads to unhealthy habits or destructive behaviour. So to steer teens towards positive behaviour, it is important for them to see the value and pleasure of beneficial risks such as standing up for a cause in which they believe....
EXCERPT: Labs around the world have long shown that the adolescent brain is special – that teens are not simply mini-adults or overgrown children, neurobiologically speaking. Early on, the field focused on the potentially negative effects of greater arousability in the adolescent brain and its impact on real-life risk-taking behaviour. But research emerging from our lab at the University of California, Los Angeles shows that the neural sensitivity to risk in adolescence can actually help the teenager make optimal choices and better evaluate options – even better than adults. [...] Our lab has confirmed that during adolescence, the brain goes through a unique developmental period, expressing profound strengths and weaknesses that set teens apart. [...] Although there is variability in the risk-taking behaviours they engage in, most adolescents are risk-takers! This is not necessarily a bad thing because many important life lessons are learned through trial and error, but it becomes problematic when the risk-taking leads to unhealthy habits or destructive behaviour. So to steer teens towards positive behaviour, it is important for them to see the value and pleasure of beneficial risks such as standing up for a cause in which they believe....