·Head games ·Get your zzz's ·Making memories ·Get inside your head ·A brainy career ·CNN NEWSROOM: Rebel with a cause ·ON THE SCENE: Shelley Walcott on teen brain discoveries ·STUDENT BUREAU: One ad makes waves ·Web resources ·Glossary
	·Webcast basics ·Webcast schedule ·Unit overview ·Lesson plans & objectives ·Lesson 1: Get some sleep! ·Lesson 2: How memory works ·Lesson 3: How the brain works ·Lesson 4: Teen brains are different, part 1 ·Lesson 5: Teen brains are different, part 2 ·Web resources ·Glossary ·CNN Health News

VIDEO CNN's Shelley Walcott finds a critical stage of brain growth takes place in the teen years Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) DISCUSSION-ACTIVITY    VIDEO CNN's Shelley Walcott discovers how drugs and alcohol affect the teen brain Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) DISCUSSION-ACTIVITY    VIDEO CNN's Shelley Walcott looks at a process to take pictures of the brain - MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) DISCUSSION-ACTIVITY

Rebels with a cause

Research suggests teen brains still under development

December 5, 2000
Web posted at: 5:20 PM EST (2220 GMT)

(CNN NEWSROOM) -- Scientists have discovered a reason why teen-agers sometimes act like emotional volcanoes -- because parts of their brains are still under construction.

The new research calls into question the long-held theory that brain development stops during the early years of life.

"Teen-agers are a little bit scattered or disorganized or take risks or are rebellious, because the part of their brain that would keep them from doing that isn't yet finished," said Dr. Elizabeth Sowell, who led a team of researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Scientists specializing in adolescent brain research note that some teens' erratic behavior had wrongfully been blamed on hormones -- rather than the inevitable course of the brain's development. The experts also pointed to the harmful effect that drugs and alcohol can have on the teen brain.

CNN NEWSROOM's Shelley Walcott has the full story.

A Q&A with Shelley Walcott on teen brain discoveries