Inventing Ourselves

Award-winning neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore explains the developmental journey our brains take during adolescence and how the experience of these years determines the adults we become.

Risk taking, intense relationships, going to bed and getting up late--what is going on in teenagers' brains? Until very recently, we believed that the human brain stopped developing in childhood--that by the time you reached adolescence, your brain was fully developed. In Inventing Ourselves, award-winning neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore reveals that this is simply not the case. Blakemore shows that there are fundamental differences between the adult and adolescent brain, and typical teenage behavior is caused by the transformations that take place during this formative period. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these physiological changes are most evident in the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for decision-making, planning, inhibiting inappropriate behavior, evaluating risk, and understanding others. With implications for education, parenting, and treating mental health conditions, Inventing Ourselves will transform the way we think about adolescence and reveal that the changes we experience throughout our teenage years dictate the adults we become.