Teen Angst

Wonder why teens become so emotional so easily? Blame it on their (underdeveloped) brains.

In a recent study at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, neuropsychologist Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, Ph.D., showed adults and adolescents photos of faces contorted by fear. The adults swiftly and accurately identified the pictured emotion, but the teens had more trouble. "Almost all of them got it wrong," says Yurgelun-Todd. "They identified fear as worry or anger or something else. That may explain in part why adolescents' responses are so often incongruous."

Scans of the teens' brains further revealed that looking at the photos increased blood flow to the amygdala, a structure which governs our "gut" reactions. When adults viewed the pictures, however, they registered greater activity in the prefrontal cortex. This is the part of the brain that uses thought and reason to tone down our instinctive reactions --and, says Yurgelun-Todd, it's the last to fully develop.

PHOTO (COLOR): In a recent study at McLean Hospital in Massachusetts, neuropsychologist Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, Ph.D., showed adults and adolescents photos of faces contorted by fear.