Teenagers

I was listening to NPR again this morning as I was driving to work and it told me something that I'd really suspected all along. Teenager's brains aren't wired right.

Yep, it's official. It would seem that the frontal lobe takes a long time to actually fully attach to the rest of the brain. The frontal lobe, they explained is the one that says: 'Is this a good idea? What is the consequence of this action?' It's not that they can't answer this question, but with the frontal lobe not fully attached yet, it takes longer. So by the time a teen realizes that maybe this might not be a good idea, it's really too late.

This connection isn't fully formed even at 21 - so you have college students doing crazy things on Spring Break. Again, shocker.

The newscast didn't say exactly when the neurons that connect the frontal lobe are fully operational or whether it develops differently in men and women. My guess is that some middle-aged men are still waiting for it to happen.