In a recent study on a human brain development, Yurgelun –Todd suggests that cognitive brain development during adolescence is associated with progressively greater efficiency of cognitive control and affective modulation. A number of cognitive and neurobiological hypotheses have been postulated to explain why adolescents engage in the suboptimal choice behavior. These changes in social interactions may influence of the rise of emotional reactivity. These worrying statistics show how much behaviors of certain individuals affect not only people around them but also themselves (and sadly, the way their life can end).ĭuring adolescence, the social environment is changing, which leads to numerous conflicts among teenagers and their parents. According to some statistics, there are over 13,000 adolescent deaths in the United States each year, and approximately 70% of these deaths are consequences of motor vehicle crashes, unintentional injuries, homicides, and suicides. These changes make this specifical period of time in human’s life a time of vulnerability and adjustment. AdolescenceĪdolescence is the period between childhood and adulthood encompassed by the changes in physical, psychological, and social development. Those decisions may be the consequence of underdeveloped brain and not immaturity as it is widely considered among parents. Basically, that means that someone who is considered legally “an adult” (those age 18+), has to make important decisions of their lifetime. Only now it appears that behaviors of young teenagers don’t have to necessarily be the result of raging hormones, but the result of neurobiology. However, the scientists have recently discovered, using different techniques, that the brain continues to change into the early 20’s with the frontal lobes, responsible for reasoning and problem solving, developing fast. By the time teen years were reached the brain was thought to be largely finished. For many years, it was thought that brain development is set at a very early age.