They are called unpredictable and rebellious, but also creative and by spurts even brilliant. We’re talking about adolescents, and Professor Eveline Crone studies their brains to shed light on their sometimes whimsical behavior.
She is a full professor at the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University and wrote a very successful book for the general public, titled: ‘The Adolescent Brain’ (sold more than 70,000 copies). Today, she shared with us her ever-expanding expertise into how children and adolescents make decisions and how this relates to brain development.
Photo: Maurice Mikkers & Jan-Jaap Heine
Out of control?
Eveline starts by asking who remembers being an adolescent. All hands rise in the air. She then shares a bold statement: “Today’s youth is out of control.” But is it? Jumping back a few centuries in history shows us that Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet were already considered rebellious in their days, and even ancient Greek philosophers assumed their youngsters behaved badly. Although every generation is challenged with new situations, adolescents show comparable traits over time.
During adolescence, kids spend more time with their peers than parents. As a result, they are more inclined to take risks, and experience “a higher social anxiety with a fear for negative evaluations,” as well as stepping into the world of romance, causing “very intense emotions.” And brains don’t stop developing after puberty (10-15 years) but well into the road to adulthood. And it happens “in fascinating and highly dynamic ways, different from what we used to think. We thought all this whimsical behavior only took place during puberty.” The development of the brain, which happens through the “production of neurons, and subsequent pruning, happens with a different pace for different areas in the brain.” Especially those areas important for control of thoughts and actions and social reasoning – such as risk-taking, reward-processing and love – show the slowest developmental path of overproduction and pruning.
A risky time
This doesn’t make adolescents unable to think clearly. On the contrary, it “puts them in advantageous positions to show creativity, develop talents, learn new skills and try out things.” But it also means that these intense emotions bring along a certain amount of risk. Rationally, adolescents can easily distinguish between right and wrong – as seen when the kids are questioned in the laboratory. But once triggered in an emotional sense – “they make emotionally driven, usually not very well future-oriented decisions.” And this often gets them into trouble. Although adolescents are physically in optimal health, their mortality rates are 200-300% higher than among adults because they have accidents resulting from risky behavior.
Foster, instead of punish
According to Eveline, “we should not blame the brain for everything.” What she tries to get across is that adolescence is a period of taking risks and challenges – and this should be taken into account when designing optimal learning environments. But also to take advantage of the adolescent’s curiosity to explore the world, and foster their creativity, passions and talents. If we think about that health paradox, and think of how many risks these adolescents get into, we should rethink the why of them getting into trouble. Actually, 80% of children get through puberty without any problems, but still – there are risk factors. These kids also have great opportunities. “The next TED event should be filled with just adolescents and pick their out-of-the-box brains.” (That happened on November 20th in NEMO during TEDxYouth, Eveline!)
She concludes on a personal note: “I have a 3-year old daughter and it is obvious that she depends on me and my husband, but don’t forget that adolescents need us, too.”
Watch Aldith Hunkar’s interview with Eveline backstage for insights on her adolescence:
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Flickr
Hyves