simulate 6.sim.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

All too often, teenagers act recklessly and even dangerously around their friends. A new study suggests that this rash behavior feeds off the teen brain’s sensitivity to social and emotional influences, which is substantially unbridled because a cognitive and behavioral control network is not yet mature.

The brain’s control network doesn’t coalesce until the early 20s, a change that enables the network to communicate better with neural pathways that handle social and emotional responses, propose Jason Chein of Temple University in Philadelphia and his colleagues. As a result, hazardous behavior around friends declines, they say.

The researchers studied nine teenagers, ages 15 to 19, and eight young adults, ages 20 to 28. Each volunteer completed two tasks while reclining in an functional MRI machine. On some trials, participants were alone; during others, two of their same-sex friends watched the proceedings.

One task involved using a driving simulator to direct a virtual car as quickly as possible down a straight road, trying to avoid getting in crashes at intersections. The other task required participants to blow up balloons for cash rewards. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN.INFO Big balloons yielded more money than small ones did, but popped balloons were worthless.

Teens, but not adults, got in more car crashes and popped more balloons when they had an audience. In those trials, the teens’ brains displayed enhanced activity in predominantly right brain areas that handle social and emotional information. With friends watching, young adults’ brains showed especially pronounced activity in mainly left brain areas that have been implicated in controlling thoughts and actions. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire