Adolescence as a sensitive period of social brain development.
View location
Adolescence, defined as 10-24 years, is a period of life often characterised by behaviours that can appear, prima facie, irrational such as dangerous risk-taking and impulsivity. However, these behaviours can be interpreted as adaptive and rational given that a key developmental goal of this period of life is to mature into an independent adult while navigating a social world that is unstable and changing. Research over the past two decades has demonstrated that social cognitive processes involved in navigating an increasingly complex social world develop, social influence is an important determinant of decision making and areas of the social brain undergo substantial development across adolescence. The findings suggest that adolescence might be a sensitive period of social development.
Prof Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, University of Cambridge
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Professor of Psychology at the University of Cambridge, UK, and leader of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Group. Her group's research focuses on the development of social cognition and decision making in the human adolescent brain, and adolescent mental health. Her group runs behavioural studies in schools and in the lab, as well as neuroimaging studies, with adolescents and adults. You can read more about the group and their research here.
Professor Blakemore is Chair of the Royal Society of Biology Education and Science Policy Committee. She is an editor at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and on the advisory board of the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. She has been awarded national and international prizes for her research including the British Psychological Society (BPS) Doctoral Award 2001, the BPS Spearman Medal for outstanding early career research 2006, the Swedish Neuropsychology Society Award 2011, the Young Mind & Brain Prize 2013, the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award 2013, the Klaus J Jacobs Prize 2015 and the BPS Presidents' Award 2018. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, the British Academy and the Association of Psychological Science.
BBC "The Life Scientific" interview
TED talk
Book: Inventing Ourselves: the secret life of the teenage brain
Attending lectures
Thank you for your interest in CSAR and its programme. The move to online webinars has meant a reduction in our income from the £5/£2 fees from Pay-As-You-Go/student attendees at face-to-face lectures. If you would like to help us maintain our activities at their current level, you can make a donation to CSAR here, via PayPal or a bank card. Your gift will by default go into our general income fund; if you would like it to be used for a specific purpose such as the PhD Students Awards scheme, please let us know at info@csar.org.uk. CSAR is a registered charity run by volunteers.