Why are we more inclined to take risks in adolescence? The neuroscientific explanation

THE’adolescence it is universally recognized as a time of exploration, emotional intensity and, often, impulsive behavior. The statistics confirm the premonitions, showing a dramatic peak in dangerous behaviors and reckless such as reckless driving, substance abuse and unprotected sexual activity. Why do you consciously choose the “charm” of risk? Part of the answer lies in a peculiar “time window” of brain development. Neuroscience explains this phenomenon through the “two systems” model or of maturational imbalance: during puberty, the brain system that processes rewards and emotions matures much faster than the system responsible for cognitive control and inhibition, which completes its development only a few years later. This misalignment temporal creates a specific vulnerability, in which the biological drive towards immediate gratification is powerfulwhile the brake mechanisms are still being run in.

Emotions and news take center stage

The number one enemy of worried parents is the “socio-emotional system“, located in deep areas of the brain such as the ventral striatum and the amygdala. With the onset of puberty, the adolescent brain undergoes a drastic remodeling of dopamine systemwhich radically alters sensitivity to rewards. Adolescents experience a real hypersensitivity to rewarding stimuliwhich takes them to actively seek out strong sensations and novelties.

Neuroimaging studies confirm that, during the anticipation or receipt of a reward, the brain regions associated with pleasure they are activated much more intensely in adolescents than in children or adults. This reactivity follows a “inverted U” trajectory: Increases rapidly in early adolescence, peaks in middle adolescence, and declines into adulthood. It’s as if the brain has a hard-pressed emotional accelerator, biologically designed to pushing young people out of the familiar comfort zone looking for new experiences and rewards. However, this reward-seeking drive is not constant, but ignites explosively in specific contexts, especially when strong emotions or the possibility of immediate gain are at stake.

The control system: an ongoing work in progress

While the emotional engine revs to maximum, the “brake” of the brain, i.e. the system of cognitive control located in the prefrontal cortex, follows a maturation process completely different. Unlike the rapid peak in reward sensitivity, the ability to self-regulationplanning and impulse inhibition develops gradually and linearlycontinuing to improve well into their twenties. This slow development is due to physical processes of brain maturation: the synaptic pruning (which eliminates superfluous neuronal connections making the brain more efficient) and the myelination (which isolates nerve fibers speeding up the transmission of signals) in the prefrontal cortex are still developing during adolescence.

Consequently, in “cold” situations (without strong emotional activation), an adolescent can reason as well as an adult. However, in “hot” situations characterized by excitement, time pressure, or immediate feedback on wins and losses, the overactive social-emotional system can easily overwhelm the still immature control system. It is this interaction between a early impulsive system and a late reflective system to explain why adolescents can know the risks perfectly on a theoretical level, but ignore them completely in the moment of action.

The social and psychological factor of risk

A crucial element that distinguishes adolescent risk from adult risk is the social context. Research shows that the simple presence of peers (or even just the belief of being observed by them) activates reward circuits in the adolescent brain much more intensely than in adults. This phenomenon is also linked to hormonal changessuch as the increase in oxytocin receptors, which make young people hypersensitive to the social signals and to thepeer approval.

Although in the laboratory adolescents can show similar levels of risk to adults in neutral conditions, the introduction of social or emotional elements drastically shifts the needle towards riskier choices. Interestingly, from an evolutionary perspective, this adolescent propensity for risk it is not strictly a “defect”, but a functional adaptation. In our evolutionary history, the drive to explore, compete for status e look for partners (inherently risky behaviors) were all traits necessary to leave the parental nest and ensure reproduction.