Fascinating Frontline episode: The Teenage Brain

[Dookus]

anybody watch it? Really really interesting!

Turns out what we all suspected is true - teens really ARE from another planet.

The show discussed medical and psychological studies of teens and how truly different they are from adults, and even from children. Most striking was the end where they showed teens and adults a variety of pictures of adults with various expressions, and uniformly, the teens were unable to "read" the expression.

The teens read shock and fear as anger. It was just amazing how differently adults and teens reacted to the same pictures: and it helps explain why there's such a huge disconnect between parents and their teen kids.

Damn, I don't envy parents these days. The show also talked about the natural risky behavior that all teens engage in, but today, the risks - physical, psychological, pharmacological - are so much greater than in the past.

I have a puppy and three kitties - that's about as much responsibility as I want. Best of luck to you parents.

[Huckebein the Raven]

1. Was the Frontline a new episode ? I ask because I think I saw

that one a while but then I could be thinking of something like Dateline. I do remember the subject being covered. I found the part about teens reading expression different than adults interesting.

[Dookus]

3. I don't know

probably a repeat - it followed another, new, episode of frontline.

The expressions thing was really amazing - they showed brain scans of teens and adults "reading" the expressions and the teens really use a different part of their brain - a lower, more emotional part.

[Book Lover]

2. Was that a cross-cultural study

or one that used US subjects? Just curious...

[Dookus]

4. it seemed only US

from what I could see.

But I wouldn't be surprised if it were universal.

First, they showed brain scans of various parts of the brain being used for this facility, and I'd be suprised if there were serious cultural differences in this matter.

Second, I remember reading years ago a wonderful theory about teenagers that said we have evolved to make the relationship between parents and teens nearly unbearable so they would actually "leave the nest" and go out on their own. I've seen nothing to negate that theory.

[Book Lover]

5. Ha!

Well, I'll let you know in about 10 years when my sweet beautiful angel tells me to fuck off :-)

[Dookus]

6. lol...

alas, he or she will. I know it's hard to imagine....

I have 8 nieces and nephews - 6 of them now teens. Sweet, adoring, beautiful, moody, nasty little fucks.

[JohnKleeb]

7. yeah we're fucked up, aren't we :)

[Dookus]

8. heheh

the show focused on real pubescent adolescents, from 12 to 15 or so. I think you may be past the worst of it :)