Adolescent Brain Maturation

Neuroscientists have determined that brain maturation occurs much later into development than previously believed. Longitudinal neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the adolescent brain continues to mature until age twenty-five (Johnson). This research is beginning to define when individuals should be considered mature enough for public policy purposes. Specifically, the age in which people ought to be allowed to make adult decisions such as buy cigarettes, drink alcohol, vote, drive, and fight in wars. In the United States, citizens can purchase tobacco, drive, vote, and fight in wars once eighteen with the exception of buying alcohol which is twenty-one. Because neuroimaging studies have shown that the brain does not fully mature until mid-twenties, the age people ought to be able to make adult decisions should be raised slightly despite evidence linking neurodevelopment and behavior remaining sparse. Adults, therefore, would have the experience to make these decisions and be less prone to risk-taking. …show more content…
For example, the frontal lobes control the “executive functions” of the brain such as planning, memory, and impulse control is one of the last cortexes to mature. As teens seek out new sensations and new experiences, the adolescent brains have trouble controlling risk, taking impulses, and understanding consequences. This causes teens to be more susceptible to alcoholism, smoking, dangerous driving, and taking other risks (Gross). Raising legal age people can purchase tobacco, drink alcohol, vote, and drive, has shown to decrease traffic accident as well as depression, and suicide rates