The teenage brain: "a work in progress"

For decades, adults have questioned the activities and thought processes of children during adolescence. Seemingly brilliant and thoughtful individuals are frequently found engaging in risky and harmful behaviors, leaving adults pondering the question of what is really going on inside the minds of teenagers. Adolescence has always been thought of as a time of impulsive decisions and moodiness caused by excessive hormones. However, scientists have begun to suspect that answers to irrational teenage behavior lie not just in hormones, but also in the brain. Recent findings suggest that the teenage brain is an unfinished project, a “work in progress.”1 Research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain goes far in explaining how and why teenagers behave the way they do. It has always been believed that teenagers are undergoing great physical transformation, but until now it has never been considered that teens are undergoing even greater mental and emotional alterations. These discoveries will, in the near future, have profound implications on educators, doctors, counselors, and, most importantly, parents.