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Young minds: Blame it on the brain

2 mins read
A scientific study suggests that young people are less able to consider other people's actions. Andrea Wren asks youth workers and young people whether they agree.

It says there is a neurological difference in the way that teenage and adult brains react when considering what decisions to make, and concludes that teenagers fail to take other people's feelings into account as much as adults. They often even fail to think about their own feelings.

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The research was presented at a British Association for the Advancement of Science festival at the University of East Anglia in September. It found that the medial prefrontal cortex - the front of the brain, associated with higher-level thinking, empathy, guilt and understanding other people's motivations - is often under-used in the decision-making process of teenagers.

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