Elsevier

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 45, Issue 3, September 2009, Pages 216-221
Journal of Adolescent Health

Review article
Adolescent Maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.05.016Get rights and content

Abstract

Longitudinal neuroimaging studies demonstrate that the adolescent brain continues to mature well into the 20s. This has prompted intense interest in linking neuromaturation to maturity of judgment. Public policy is struggling to keep up with burgeoning interest in cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging. However, empirical evidence linking neurodevelopmental processes and adolescent real-world behavior remains sparse. Nonetheless, adolescent brain development research is already shaping public policy debates about when individuals should be considered mature for policy purposes. With this in mind, in this article we summarize what is known about adolescent brain development and what remains unknown, as well as what neuroscience can and cannot tell us about the adolescent brain and behavior. We suggest that a conceptual framework that situates brain science in the broader context of adolescent developmental research would help to facilitate research-to-policy translation. Furthermore, although contemporary discussions of adolescent maturity and the brain often use a deficit-based approach, there is enormous opportunity for brain science to illuminate the great strengths and potentialities of the adolescent brain. So, too, can this information inform policies that promote adolescent health and well-being.

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

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