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Science/AAAS Google+ Hangout on the Adolescent Brain Featuring NIMH’s Jay Giedd, M.D.

Science Update

Why do teens engage more in risky and hazardous behavior? Rates of death by injury between ages 15 to 19 are about six times that of the rate between ages 10 and 14. Crime and alcohol abuse rates are also high relative to other ages.

Although genes, childhood experience, and environment all shape a young person’s behavior, scientists have also discovered significant changes that the brain undergoes during adolescence. Research shows that the brain does not look like that of an adult until the early 20s.

NIMH scientist Jay Giedd, M.D.
As chief of the Unit on Brain Imaging in the Child Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Jay Giedd, M.D. has studied the development of the adolescent brain for more than 20 years. Dr. Giedd participated in a live Google+ Hangout with Science/AAAS on September 26, 2013, discussing the mysteries of the adolescent brain and what makes it unique.

See an archive of the hangout .

Learn more about the adolescent brain.