Editor's Summary
24 August 2006
Teenage kicks
The adolescent mind is a mystery, at least to the parental mind. Some neuroscientists have risen to the challenge of finding out how it works, however. The adolescent brain undergoes a major remodelling that may be responsible for a tendency to take risks, and a failure to restrain inappropriate responses. Even without rebel-without-a-cause role play, teenagers may simply be unable to make decisions with the consistency attained by most adults.
News Feature: Neurodevelopment: How does the teenage brain work?
Changes in the structure of children's brains may account for some of the risky business of adolescence, Kendall Powell finds.
doi:10.1038/442865a