How risk-taking changes a teenager's brain
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Kashfia Rahman |
TED Salon: U.S. Air Force
• February 2019
Why do teenagers sometimes make outrageous, risky choices? Do they suddenly become reckless, or are they just going through a natural phase? To find out, Kashfia Rahman -- winner of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (and a Harvard freshman) -- designed and conducted an experiment to test how high school students respond to and get used to risk, and how it changes their still-developing brains. What she discovered about risk and decision-making could change how we think about why teens do what they do.
Why do teenagers sometimes make outrageous, risky choices? Do they suddenly become reckless, or are they just going through a natural phase? To find out, Kashfia Rahman -- winner of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (and a Harvard freshman) -- designed and conducted an experiment to test how high school students respond to and get used to risk, and how it changes their still-developing brains. What she discovered about risk and decision-making could change how we think about why teens do what they do.
This talk was presented at a TED Salon event given in partnership with U.S. Air Force. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
Read more about TED Salons.About the speaker
Kashfia Rahman studies psychology, cognitive science and global health policy at Harvard University.
Frances E. Jensen | HarperCollins, 2015 | Book
Dr. Frances E. Jensen is chair of the department of neurology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a prominent neurologist. In this New York Times bestseller, she portrays an innovative way to think about the brains of teenagers, dismissing myths and the importance of environment. As a mother, teacher, researcher and clinician, she has distinctive perceptions to explain to her readers the mechanism of the teen brain in the contexts of everyday learning, stress and anxiety, memory, sleep habit, addiction and decision-making. This book provides practical suggestions that will help adults and teenagers to navigate the mysterious world of teen development.
Institute of Medicine and National Research Council | National Academies Press (US), 2011 | Book
The Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council organize workshops that address different aspects of teen health and development. The focus of this workshop was to address teens’ tendency to engage in risky and reckless behaviors. The workshop has found significant evidence that the greatest contributors to morbidity and mortality in adolescence are not disease and illness, but instead such behaviors as unsafe driving; experimentation with alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs; and unsafe sex. The findings emphases on individual and contextual influences and encourage more policies that limit exposure to high-risks and provide a safer, supervised environment.
Daniel J. Siegel | Penguin, 2014 | Book
Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine. It's no doubt that brain development impacts teenagers' behavior and many parents approach their child's adolescence with fear and unease. But, in this New York Times bestseller, Dr. Siegel shows parents exciting ways in which understanding how the teenage brain functions can help parents turn the adolescent period into the most rewarding one. Parental engagement is important and if parents and teens can work together to form a deeper understanding of the brain science behind all the turmoil, they will be able to navigate the environment and social barriers.
| Explore
The website is a project of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The purpose of this site is to facilitate learning about the effects of drug use on the brain, body and lives of teens. This site provides the latest facts and resources on how drugs affect the brain and body for teens, parents, teachers and the public featuring videos, games, blog posts and more.
Neil Garrett, Stephanie C Lazzaro, Dan Ariely and Tali Sharot | Nature Neuroscience, 2016 | Article
Dr. Garrett in his recent research published in Nature Neuroscience finds that telling small white lies desensitizes our brains to the associated negative emotion which may take our brains down to a "slippery slope," escalating into big lies. Most people feel guilty when they intentionally lie with a burst of activity and negative feelings. However, repetition desensitizes brain to these associated negative emotions and responses decline which may lead to more lies. The study explains the power of habituation.
About TED Salon
TED Salons welcome an intimate audience for an afternoon or evening of highly-curated TED Talks revolving around a globally relevant theme. A condensed version of a TED flagship conference, they are distinct in their brevity, opportunities for conversation, and heightened interaction between the speaker and audience.
This talk was presented at a TED Salon event given in partnership with U.S. Air Force. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.
Read more about TED Salons.