The Adolescent Brain: Biological Bases, Risk-Taking, and Peers

This essay delves into the intricacies of adolescent brain development, exploring the biological factors that shape behavior and influence decision-making. It examines the increased propensity for risk-taking during adolescence, often attributed to the ongoing maturation of the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex. The essay highlights the significant role of peers in influencing adolescent choices, with studies demonstrating how social contexts can amplify risk-taking behaviors. It discusses the impact of peer relationships on the reward system and how social dynamics can affect cognitive processes. The essay also investigates how biological underpinnings, including genetic factors, contribute to individual differences in adolescent behavior. It emphasizes the importance of understanding these factors to develop effective interventions and support systems for adolescents. The essay suggests practical applications, such as awareness programs, to mitigate the negative impacts of peer influence and promote healthier decision-making.

Introduction
Adolescence is the period of life between late childhood and adulthood. Regularly, teenagers
look for redirection, new encounters & strong feelings, at times putting their wellbeing at
genuine threat. The major process of development of this age incorporate the foundation and
supporting of personal connections and the advancement of character, future points of view,
autonomy, self-assurance, discretion, and social aptitudes (Konrad, Firk & Uhlhaas, 2013). An
increase in experimentation and risk taking is one of the primary features of adolescence. This
age is marked by various risky choices, which have often been perceived as a result of poor
decision making. This age drives the teens to go out, explore, and connect more and more with
their peers (Cousijn, Luijten & Feldstein Ewing, 2018). Adolescence is full of fantastic and
complex changes in the life expectancy. Its amazing pace of development and change is second
just to that of early stages. Biological mechanisms drive numerous parts of this development and
advancement, with the beginning of pubescence denoting the section from youth to youthfulness.
Pubescence is a transitional period among adolescence and adulthood, amid which a
development spurt happens, auxiliary sexual qualities show up, fruitfulness is accomplished, and
significant mental changes occur. This is the age of make or break during this age various
changes take place in the behavior of an adolescent (Please reword this sentence, it doesn’t really
flow through as a professional statement). In this article various biological factors affecting the
growth and development of adolescent brain would be explored.
This would encompass the effects of peers on the lives of their counterparts, also various factors
would be discussed that compel the risk taking attitude among youngsters. There has been a
boom in research field among the neuroscientist to study the adolescent brain and the related
interventions in order to cope up with the various psychiatric disorders and increasing mental
illness cases among adolescent. It has been hypothesized that more grounded affiliations will in
general be made between natural signals and appetitive upgrades, and more fragile relationship
with aversive boosts, in youth in respect to grown-ups. A consideration framework outfitted to
organize improvement driven consideration, together with increasingly amazing cooperative
learning with appetitive motivators, add to shape examples of youthful roused conduct. This
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proposed inclination in consideration and molding capacity could encourage the indiscreet,
oddity chasing and hazard taking conduct that is commonplace of numerous young people.
(Ernst, Daniele & Frantz, 2011).
Risk taking behaviour among teens
In a report (can you state which report you found this in?) where the study was done to evaluate
the risk taking behaviours of teen under the environmental cues like emotions or stress
conditions it was found that, there were three types of risk takers. First one was the conservative
ones who were involved in low level of risks without any regards to stress, then the calculated
ones who took fewer risks, and last one was the impulsive ones who were less accurate and
planful under the condition of stress (Johnson, Dariotis & Wang, 2012). In a study done by
Reniers et al., (2016) the risk taking behaviour was analysed among male and female
adolescents, boys were less socially on edge than girls recommending less worry with the social
circumstance they are acting in. Critically, while male and female members scored essentially
extraordinary on proportions of hazard discernment, chance taking conduct, social hindrance and
social tension, the model demonstrating the connections between these attributes and practices
did not contrast between sexes. Expanded view of hazard and expanded social tension
diminished hazard taking conduct, paying little heed to sexual orientation, and these elements
were affected by hindrance of conduct with likely negative results (Reniers, Murphy, Lin,
Bartolomé & Wood, 2016).
In order to identify the extent of risk taking attitude, an experimental setup (informal use of
language) can be made in school a simple bike riding activity can be organized. In one set the
bike riding would be done in an indoor setting and in the presence of only teachers and staff,
whereas in the second setup the activity would take place outside the campus in front of all the
students including friends of the participants. Now both the events should be recorded and
checked for the change of attitude and risk taking magnitude of the same students in two
different settings. This activity will show that how can merely the presence of peers increase the
magnitude of risk-taking behaviours among teens. After analysis, the students who show a
significant amount of change in their risk taking attitude should be segregated given sessions on
how to change this kind of behaviour and what are the consequences of having such an attitude.
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This is very similar example to the driving car example. This is not ‘original’.
Role of peers influencing on younger minds
Adolescents' culture of peers holds a key position in the advancement and support of hazard
taking conduct. Regardless of ongoing advances in formative neuroscience proposing that friends
may increment neural affectability to rewards, we know moderately minimal about how the
nature of companion relations sway adolescent risk taking. (Telzer, Fuligni, Lieberman,
Miernicki & Galván, 2014). When youths invest an expanding measure of energy with their
companions, reports recommend that peer-related improvements may sharpen the reward
framework to react to the reward estimation of dangerous conduct. As the mindset slowly
develops through the span of the high school years, youths develop in their ability to organize
influence and discernment, and to practice self-guideline even in genuinely stimulating
circumstances. These limits are reflected in progressive development in the ability to oppose peer
impact. An experiment was conducted to check how the adolescent minds act with and without
the presence of peers along with them during a situation of risk.
In order to check the influence of peers on the brains of adolescent, an awareness program
should be organized at school, and the high school students should be given special focus, as
students in high school are of very tender age. At this age the student’s brains are always at an
excited state. They are full of zeal and vigour, and can do anything out of peer influence. So in
order to make them learn about the positives and negatives of the peer influence these kind of
activities or program can be very useful. This awareness program could include short movies
based on this concept or there could be such games organized in which the choices of students
for certain things like colours, food, games or celebrities etc. could be asked and then their
answers can be analysed as to how and up to what extent are these answers influenced by their
peers. After the question answer session the students should be asked to draw some conclusion
out of a case study which would be provided to them by the teacher, first along with their close
peers and then in the next round the group members would be exchanged and the same case
study should be concluded with the new group members who are obviously not among their
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peers. Answers of both the rounds should be read out loudly and analysed for the change of
perception of the same case study with different set of people and make the students learn about
how they get influenced by their peers.(expand)
Biological bases of behaviour during adolescence
The process of development proceeds forward thorough some very intricate steps which are
biologically guided and are a result of good and bad experience which one has ever had. Many of
the researches have proved that adolescence is a period which is defined by hyperactivity,
anxiety various social experiences and lessons. Interaction with friends is the most important one
among all. There have been reviews done lately which support this with the neurobiological
imaging of an adolescent mind. Development proceeds through an intricate weaving of inherent,
biologically-guided mechanisms and one’s experiences, good and bad. While much behavioural
research shows that adolescence is a developmental period characterized by heightened
sensitivity to social experiences in particular (e.g., peer interactions), recent reviews of
neuroimaging-based evidence corroborate this characteristic of adolescence. Among the conduct
changes special to youthfulness with respect to adolescence or adulthood are expanded
reluctance, more prominent introduction far from guardians and toward friends, uplifted
affectability to social acknowledgment, expanded hazard taking particularly within the sight of
companions, and more noteworthy development of emotional well-being issues that obstruct
social working. These qualities may halfway reflect maturational changes in how the youthful
mind codes and creates reactions to social data (Schriber & Guyer, 2016).
To understand the etiology of younger minds has been of persistent interest. Only relatively
lately, however (informal language that needs rewording), has this issue been analysed inside an
ordinary identity attribute structure. Research proposes that behavioural changes in pre-
adulthood and past might be satisfactorily clarified by the scientific categorization given by the
fundamental components of ordinary identity: Such issue practices are recommended to be
extraordinary focuses on a conveyance of the full scope of the hidden attributes. A study has
been conducted by undertaking a five factor model which gets influenced by the genetic or the
biological factors, those five points are, hyperactivity, anxiety, low prosociality, peer problems
and conduct (Lewis, Haworth & Plomin, 2013). Author reported in there study that genetic
factors are also involved in devising the state of an adolescent mind on the basis of the socio
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economic environment in which the children lives. They performed certain studies to prove
(rove?) this involvement of genes in influencing ones social behaviour.
Certain activities can be performed in order to inculcate and check this biological bases of brain
behaviour, like the students of the class could be given a case study related to a murder case and
they should be asked to prepare a questionnaire along with its answers in which they should
identify the possible suspects for the murder and also support their answers as to why they think
these can be the possible suspects. Then their questions and answers should be analysed on how
and what kind of perception did each student has for the case and what kind of logical and
behavioural aspect of a student is reflected from those observations. Then the students should be
asked to explain their perception to their teachers and the teacher should decide which set of
student should be called for a counselling session. (expand)
Conclusion
As it can be concluded that there is a very crucial role played by the peers in the life of
adolescent. They are very much responsible for the decision making process, so there is a great
requirement of such intervention programs in which the decision making process or the risk
taking attitude could be viewed differently from the normal and healthy relationship with the
peers. (too long of a sentence to comprehend). The adolescents need to be counselled on the
various consequences of taking risks just for fun or just to project them as “cool” in front of their
peers. The risk taking attitude was having no difference among a girl teen or a boy teen, the
magnitude of taking risks was same with both the sexes. (informal language). The research
should be done in the direction of underpinning the underlying mechanism and thoughts that
derive these youngsters to poses such an attitude.
Moreover it can also be concluded from the article that genetic influence can also be regarded
(informal language) as one of the biological basis that play an important role in shaping the brain
of youngsters. There are several other factors like a family history or the way a child has been
bought up, whether or not he has witnesses some kind of violence in the past, all of these can be
the determinants of shaping an adolescent mind (is this necessary?). These young minds are the
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future of any nation, in order to protect the future of any nation we should take some steps (is
this necessary statement to make, perhaps talk about future generation). Larger amount of
(informal language) intense studies in the field of neurobiology are required that could be able to
devise a road map so as to how these adolescent brain processes various aspects in their minds.
There should be counselling sessions organized in order to train these minds over how to act in
certain situations, or how to keep your minds in a normal state instead of keeping it in a super
excited state. Children should be told about all the negative as well as positive consequences of
having peers from whom they get so much of influence.
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