Professor Sarah Jayne Blakemore, University College London
Sensitive periods of social brain development in adolescence
Social cognitive processes involved in navigating an increasingly complex social world continue to develop throughout human adolescence. Adolescence is a period of life often characterised by behaviours that, prima facie, are irrational, such as seemingly excessive risk-taking and impulsivity. However, these behaviours can be interpreted as adaptive and rational if one considers that a key developmental goal of this period of life is to mature into an independent adult in the context of a social world that is unstable and changing. In the past twenty years, neuroscience research has shown that the human brain develops both structurally and functionally during adolescence. Areas of the social brain undergo significant reorganisation during the second decade of life, which might reflect a sensitive period for adapting to the social environment.
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