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Kashfia Rahman
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TED Talks Daily · How risk-taking changes a teenager's brain | Kashfia Rahman
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How Did Rahman Conduct Her Experiment on Her Peers
Rahman conducted her study with 86 students that were required to wear electroencephalogram headsets (EEG) and had them take a simulation test regarding alcohol use, drug use, and gambling 12 times over 3 days to mimic risk exposures. The controls on the EEG headset measured and rated their emotional responses, which gave Rahman her data.
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What Did Rashman’s Study Reveal
These results should be a wakeup call for teens because it showed that the natural and necessary fear and guilt that protected teens from unsafe situations became numb when they repeatedly choose risky behaviors.
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What Consequences of Teenage Risk-taking Does Kashfia Rahman Describe?
On TED Talks Daily, Kashfia Rahman says that as the teenagers in her account became less fearful, guilty, and stressed, they lost the brain's ordinary fear and caution. Because a teenage brain is still developing, they also grew more interested in thrill-seeking. The consequences followed: they lacked self-control for logical decisions, they took greater risks, and they made more harmful choices. She does not blame the immature brain alone. Habituation, she says, can physically change a teen's brain and push risk higher still. The dangerous mix is that unfinished brain plus getting used to the risk.
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How Does Habituation Affect the Rise of Risk-taking in Teenagers
Habituation can change a teen’s brain by altering their emotional levels, which causes greater risk taking. Emotions that were normally associated with risks are what prevented teens from taking risks. More exposure lessened the brain’s natural instincts of caution and fear. Due to the underdeveloped brain at this age, teenagers became more interested and enticed with thrill-seeking behaviors.
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Why Does Kashfia Rahman Say Capable Teens Risk Carelessly?
On TED Talks Daily, Kashfia Rahman starts from teens who do well in school, lead clubs and teams, and volunteer, and who also eat Tide Pods on a dare, speed and text while driving, binge drink, and try illicit drugs. At 16, watching classmates in person and on social media, she saw that the more they exposed themselves to harmful risks, the easier the next risk became. A D.A.R.E. certificate from fifth grade did not stop it. Neuroscientists already knew that ages 13 to 18 take more risks than children or adults. Her question was whether that is a sudden turn toward recklessness or a normal phase of the teenage brain, and the exposure effect is the clue she followed.