Search


	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		When does the brain stop maturing?
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:03
	Publish Date:		2017-01-02 18:00:00
	Description:		People are considered adults when they turn eighteen, but from a neuroscience perspective, the brain keeps growing and developing beyond that age. Dr. Adriana Galván, director of the UCLA Developmental Neuroscience Lab, explains that current literature suggests it's around age 25 that the brain finishes the period of adolescence. "But the majority of what we call 'plasticity' or sensitivity to the environment, changes around the mid-20s and so that means that although the brain can keep changing in response to new experiences or learning something new, the majority of that development has ended." One of Galván's studies found that in comparison to adults, the adolescent brain is more excited by positive feedback. "And so this is good evidence for us that there is something very unique about the reward system in the adolescent brain that is distinct from that of childhood as well." And since the reward center of the brain is linked to learning, understanding these differences may have broader implications in the classroom and beyond.
	Total Play:		0