Review articleAdolescent Maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy
Section snippets
A Historical Perspective on Development and Maturity
Throughout history there have been biological benchmarks of maturity. For example, puberty has often been used as the transition point into adulthood. As societal needs have changed, so too have definitions of maturity. For example, in 13th century England, when feudal concerns were paramount, the age of majority was raised from 15 to 21 years, citing the strength needed to bear the weight of protective armor and the greater skill required for fighting on horseback [8]. More recently, in the
Brain Development in Adolescence
Current studies demonstrate that brain structures and processes change throughout adolescence and, indeed, across the life course [11]. These findings have been facilitated by imaging technologies such as structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI and fMRI, respectively). Much of the popular discussion about adolescent brain development has focused on the comparatively late maturation of the frontal lobes [12], although recent work has broadened to the increasing “connectivity”
Adolescent Neuropsychology: Linking Brain and Behavior
As detailed above, across cultures and millennia, the teen years have been observed to be a time of dramatic changes in body and behavior. During adolescence, most people successfully navigate the transition from dependence upon caregivers to self-sufficient adult members of society. Where specifically, along the maturational path of cognitive and emotional development, individuals should be given certain societal rights and responsibilities continues to be a topic of intense interest.
What We Do Not Know About Brain Development in Adolescence
In many respects, neuroimaging research is in its infancy; there is much to be learned about how changes in brain structure and function relate to adolescent behavior. As of yet, however, neuroimaging studies do not allow a chronologic cut-point for behavioral or cognitive maturity at either the individual or population level. The ability to designate an adolescent as “mature” or “immature” neurologically is complicated by the fact that neuroscientific data are continuous and highly variable
Adolescent Maturity and Policy in the Real World: Scientific Complexity Meets Policy Reality
The most prominent use of neuroscience research in adolescent social policy was the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court Case, Roper vs. Simmons, which has been described as the “Brown v. Board of Education of ‘neurolaw,’” recalling the case that ended racial segregation in American schools [45]. In that case, 17-year-old Christopher Simmons was convicted of murdering a woman during a robbery. Ultimately, he was sentenced to death for his crime. Simmons’ defense team argued that he did not have a specific,
Toward a Policy-Relevant Neuroscientific Research Agenda
Public policy is struggling to keep up with burgeoning interest in cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging [51]. In a rush to assign biological explanations for behavior, adolescents may be caught in the middle. Policy scholar Robert Blank comments, “We have not kept up in terms of policy mechanisms that anticipate the implications beyond the technologies. We have little evidence that there is any anticipatory policy. Most policies tend to be reactive” [51]. There is a need to situate research
References (52)
The teen brain: Insights from neuroimaging
J Adolesc Health
(2008)- et al.
Brain development in children and adolescents: Insights from anatomical magnetic resonance imaging
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2006) - et al.
Localizing age-related changes in brain structure between childhood and adolescence using statistical parametric mapping
NeuroImage
(1999) The adolescent brain and age-related behavioral manifestations
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2000)- et al.
Functional frontalisation with age: Mapping neurodevelopmental trajectories with fMRI
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2000) - et al.
Maturation of white matter in the human brain: A review of magnetic resonance studies
Brain Res Bull
(2001) - et al.
Maturation of widely distributed brain function subserves cognitive development
NeuroImage
(2001) - et al.
Risk-taking in adolescence—a decision-making perspective
Dev Rev
(1992) Cognitive and affective development in adolescence
Trends Cogn Sci
(2005)- et al.
Seeing is believing: The effect of brain images on judgments of scientific reasoning
Cognition
(2008)