"The teenage brain - a work in progress". An exhibit selected for the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2009. (360G-Wellcome-089097_Z_09_Z)

Our research group has been selected to present an exhibit entitled "The teenage brain - a work in progress" at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2009. The audience includes school parties of adolescents and their teachers, the general public including families with children, and fellows of the Royal Society, ministers, peers and science journalists. The aim of our exhibit is to present to this wide audience the latest research on the adolescent brain. Adolescence is a time defined by change - hormonal, physical, psychological and social. In the past decade, brain scanning research has shown that this period of life is also characterised by dramatic development of the brain. Our interactive exhibit will explore how the human brain changes and how this development might underlie behaviours that characterise the teenage years, such as increased self-consciousness and risk-taking. We will highlight implications of this research for education and medicine. We will evaluate questions such as: How can lessons and teaching be adapted for the teenage brain? Why do so many psychological disorders, such as eating disorders and depression, start in adolescence? With the help of an exhibit designer from the London Science Museum we will build a visually engaging and highly interactive exhibit. Visitors will be able to experience the MRI scanning environment, walk along a neuron and learn about how each part of it changes with age, and see how their own performance on a variety of fun scientific tasks differs according to age and gender.