HHS HealthBeat (March 17, 2006)

Will they ever grow up?

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Parents of teenagers sometimes wonder if the kids will ever grow up.

Researchers wonder something like that, too. But researchers can look – using brain scans.

Abigail Baird of Dartmouth examined the brains of nineteen 18-year-old freshmen and 17 older students – from 25 to 35. The study, supported by the National Institutes of Health, was in the journal Human Brain Mapping.

Baird found brain wiring involved in emotion and thinking was still developing in the freshmen.

"Convention has always said that maturity hits at 18 – that when you’re 18, you know, your brain’s done developing – that you’re fully mature. And I think it’s really exciting to think about how much the brain and the person are changing in those four years." (12 seconds)

She also says freshmen still can act mature. That, she says, is behavior.

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August, 15 2006