Fresh Air - The Teenage Brain

[MomWithOCDSon]

Did anyone else happen to catch this interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" yesterday? I heard part of it on my way home last night and picked up the rest of it via the podcast today.

 

http://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2015/01/28/382157260/fresh-air-for-january-28-2015?showDate=2015-01-28

 

Very interesting! I want to get a copy of this book. And the title of the interview (and maybe the book too, for that matter) is a little misleading, as she talked about childrens' brains and adult brains, as well. Though I guess most of her recent research has been in the teenage brain.

 

One thing that especially caught my ear is that the child and teenage brain responds very differently to various chemical inputs because of the plasticity of the brains . . . there's more "substrate" material, she said, so they absorb more of the substances they're given and hold onto them longer. Makes me wonder of the "half-lives" we all have kept an eye on from time to time is determined by way of adult brains rather than immature brains!

 

She also mentioned cannabidiol as an "intriguing area of research" for various seizure disorders as it "reduces brain excitability." I know there are families here who are utilizing that for their kids and seeing some results.

[tj21]

I did! And I was simultaneously optimistic and discouraged - that there is so much new research going on and that the brain doesn't really mature and form all the myelin and connections to the frontal lobe until the 30s (though I already knew this). Good news, bad news .