The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults
by Frances E. Jensen (Author), Amy Ellis Nutt (Author)
New York Times Bestseller
Drawing on her research knowledge and clinical experience, internationally respected neurologist—and mother of two boys—Frances E. Jensen, M.D., offers a revolutionary look at the science of the adolescent brain, providing remarkable insights that translate into practical advice for both parents and teenagers.
Driven by the assumption that brain growth was pretty much complete by the time a child began kindergarten, scientists believed for years that the adolescent brain was essentially an adult one—only with fewer miles on it. Over the last decade, however, the scientific community has learned that the teen years encompass vitally important stages of brain development.
Motivated by her personal experience of parenting two teenage boys, renowned neurologist Dr. Frances E. Jensen gathers what we’ve discovered about adolescent brain functioning, wiring, and capacity and, in this groundbreaking, accessible book, explains how these eye-opening findings not only dispel commonly held myths about the teenage years, but also yield practical suggestions that will help adults and teenagers negotiate the mysterious world of adolescent neurobiology.
Interweaving clear summary and analysis of research data with anecdotes drawn from her years as a parent, clinician, and public speaker, Dr. Jensen explores adolescent brain functioning and development in the contexts of learning and multitasking, stress and memory, sleep, addiction, and decision-making.
Rigorous yet accessible, warm yet direct, The Teenage Brain sheds new light on the brains—and behaviors—of adolescents and young adults, and analyzes this knowledge to share specific ways in which parents, educators, and even the legal system can help them navigate their way more smoothly into adulthood.
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Editorial Reviews
“At moments of extreme exasperation, parents may think that there’s something wrong with their teenagers’ brains. Which, according to recent books on adolescence, there is…. [Jensen] offers a parenting guide laced with the latest MRI studies…. Packed with charts and statistics.”
-Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker
“It’s charming to see good science translate directly into good parenting.”
-New York Times Book Review
“Frances Jensen, a neuroscientist and single mother of two boys. . . delved into the emerging science of the adolescent brain [and] came out with provocative new insights for parents, educators, public policymakers and teens themselves.”
-Washington Post
“Why’s your child so self-absorbed? Give him time, writes neurologist Jensen: Empathy comes with age.”
-Good Housekeeping
“Meticulously documented and reported, the studies offer proof that it’s not just parents who think their teenagers don’t quite have it all together.”
-Kirkus Reviews
“A captivating chapter, ‘The Digital Invasion of the Teenage Brain,’ calls attention to computer craving and adolescent addiction to the Internet.… [A] sensible, scientific, and stimulating book.”
-Booklist
“Recommended for readers who enjoyed Laurence Steinberg’s Age of Opportunity.” (Library Journal (starred review))
“This well-written, accessible work surveys recent research into the adolescent brain.…Chapter by chapter, Jensen covers essential topics….Speaking as one parent to another, she offers support and a way for parents to understand and relate.”
-Publishers Weekly
How is it that a delightful child can turn overnight into a sullen, explosive, risk-taking adolescent? Jensen, a neurologist and mother of two sons, and Nutt, a Washington Post science writer, explore the biology of the teenage brain, in an effort to demystify teenage behavior for overwhelmed parents. READ FULL ARTICLE…
– NYT SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW|Neuroscience by AMANDA SCHAFFER
Mice are black, with pink ears and long pink tails. Inbred for the purposes of experimentation, they exhibit a number of infelicitous traits, including a susceptibility to obesity, a taste for morphine, and a tendency to nibble off their cage mates’ hair. They’re also tipplers. Given access to ethanol, C57BL/6J mice routinely suck away until the point that, were they to get behind the wheel of a Stuart Little-size roadster, they’d get pulled over for D.U.I. READ FULL ARTICLE…
– THE NEW YORKER|The Terrible Teens by ELIZABETH KOLBERT