Teens Can't Seem to Avoid Danger - East Idaho News

Teens Can’t Seem to Avoid Danger

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GETTY 111513 Danger?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1384514238388Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Teens are drawn to trouble like moths to a flame.  Perhaps it’s because they can’t help themselves.

Kristina Caudle of Weill Cornell Medical College looked at why adolescents react more impulsively to danger than other age groups.  As a result, they’re also more likely to engage in criminal activity.

What Caudle found most curious was that even though teens’ brains are more developed than younger children, pre-teens aren’t as inclined to get caught up in risky behavior.

More than 80 participants ages 6 to 29 took part in an experiment where they were told to press a button when they saw a photo of a neutral face, but to hold back when a threatening face appeared.

Invariably, teenagers hit the button more often when a threatening face popped up.  Of those who didn’t, there was more activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for impulse control.

Therefore, Caudle surmised that a teen’s prefrontal cortex is still in the process of change, possibly explaining why adolescents just can’t seem to control their impulses at times.

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