seminars > seminar Autumn 2005
Brain development during adolescence: Do teenagers understand us?
Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
Dr. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College, London. She is engaged in neuroscience research, for which she obtained the 2001 British Psychological Society Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research. Her recent book, The Learning Brain, was co-written with fellow scientist Uta Frith.
In this lecture she looks at adolescence, a time characterised by change – hormonal, physical and mental. We now know that some brain areas, particularly the frontal cortex, continue to develop well beyond childhood. Recent studies have demonstrated a dip in performance at the onset of puberty on tasks that involve understanding other people's emotions.