Dr. Jason Chein connected nine students ages 15 to 19 years old and eight adults ages 20 to 28 years to MRI machines in order to monitor their brain activity as they performed two tasks. The first task was to blow up balloons as big as possible without breaking them; the second was to drive a simulated car without crashing it.
When the teenagers performed the tasks in front of same-sex peers, they took more risks, and thereby crashed more cars and broke more balloons. The teenagers' brains showed enhanced activities in certain areas that handle social and emotional information whenever they performed before an audience. The adults' brains did not show these activities.
Dr. Chein believes that since the human brain's control network does not fully develop until a person reaches the early 20s, teenagers are more likely to take risks and are more sensitive to emotional and social influences than adults.
This study was presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Labels: risky_behavior, peer_pressure
Posted By: Aspen Education Group