The Teenage Brain (Enchanced)

November 17, 2014
When pediatric neurologist Jensen’s sons began exhibiting typical teenage behavior—impulsivity, risk-taking, slipping grades, and mood swings—her professional training prompted her to wonder not only “What were they thinking?” but “How were they thinking?” This well-written, accessible work surveys recent research into the adolescent brain, a subject relatively unexplored until just this past decade. The result illuminates the specific ways in which the teen brain differs from that of a child or an adult. As Jensen explains, while hormones cause some changes, teen behavior—even through the college years—is most influenced by the connections between brain areas still under development, including new brain circuitry, chemicals, and neurotransmitters. This period of growth increases both adolescents’ capacity for remarkable accomplishments and their vulnerability to stress, drugs, sleep deficit, and environmental changes. Chapter by chapter, Jensen covers essential topics: how teens learn; why they need more sleep; coping with stress; mental illness; the “digital invasion of the teenage brain”; and the biological differences between girls’ and boys’ brains. Speaking as one parent to another, she offers support and a way for parents to understand and relate to their own soon-to-be-adult offspring. Agent: Wendy Strothman.

Starred review from December 1, 2014

They can't help it--teens are in many ways unable to control impulses, make wise decisions, and understand what they do, explains Jensen (neurology; chair, neurology dept., Univ. of Pennsylvania). It's not willful; it's brain chemistry. By understanding relevant brain science, however, parents can find plans of action to help their kids through all the nuances of life in this fraught period. Jensen, with science writer Nutt, explains how teen brains are still developing and changing; nonscientific readers will find a lot of information here about neurology. Yet Jensen is also a parent and imparts deep concerns about the pressures of raising her two sons. Today's parents should not only "tolerate" their kids' behavior--they can use their teens' emotional outbursts and errors of judgment to help them learn, choose, and "wise up," she explains. Jensen supports later-morning starts for school days (teens need morning sleep) and describes exactly what tobacco, alcohol, pot, and hard drugs do to the brain. While parents should understand and use social media, they must set limits for computer and smartphone use. VERDICT Recommended for readers who enjoyed Laurence Steinberg's Age of Opportunity, this title applies new science to the frustrating dilemma of how to live with teenage kids.--Linda Beck, Indian Valley P.L., Telford, PA

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2014
This book competently covers the details of adolescent brain development but offers few surprises and scant advice.It's not really news that the brain continues to develop well into the early 20s. Scholars and journalists have long written about the "unfinished" nature of the teen brain. Here to clarify exactly what that means is Jensen (Neurology/Univ. of Pennsylvania), the mother of two boys who have survived those fraught years between childhood and full adulthood. While the author shares a few stories about her sons' teen years, this is not a book of anecdotes. Instead, Jensen, with the assistance of Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post writer Nutt (Shadows Bright as Glass: The Remarkable Story of One Man's Journey from Brain Trauma to Artistic Triumph, 2011), lays out the way human brains develop: "back to front" with the impulse-controlling, executive-functioning circuits of the frontal lobe coming in last. If you ever doubted that this was true, the author's collection of study results will convince you. 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. Jensen ably explains neurons, synapses, neurotransmitters and so on, offering a vocabulary that provides scaffolding for understanding how the brain grows. The prevalence of medical terminology may engage some readers, but it could easily put off parents who pick up the book based on its subtitle. Individual chapters expound on the biology behind the many perils of the teen years-why it's such a prime time for getting hooked on drugs and what those drugs do to a developing brain, for instance-but parents looking for guidance on avoiding these pitfalls will be disappointed. Parents and teens may balk at the heavily risk-oriented perspective Jensen takes throughout, which gives regrettably short shrift to the more positive flip side of the teen scene: extraordinary creativity, energy and learning capacity. More at home in college classrooms than on parents' nightstands.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2014
Neurologist Jensen, a divorced mother of two teenage boys, and science writer Nutt liken the brain of a teen to a brand-new Ferrari: It's primed and pumped, but it hasn't been road tested yet. In other words, it's all revved up but doesn't quite know where to go. Neural plasticity, hormones, and wiring help make the maturing brain of teenagers more powerful and more vulnerable than at virtually any other time in their lives. Some of those vulnerabilities include a predilection for risk taking, a susceptibility to addiction, and an increased chance of mental illness, eating disorders, and suicide. A captivating chapter, The Digital Invasion of the Teenage Brain, calls attention to computer craving and adolescent addiction to the Internet. The authors of this sensible, scientific, and stimulating book advise parents of teens to set limits, stay involved, be cognizant of the emotional needs of their children, and remain positive. Talking to teenagers in a calm, reasoned manner goes a long way. Most importantly, let your teenager know you are there whenever he or she needs advice and help.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)