Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain - Softcover

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0857523716 ISBN 13: 9780857523716

Publisher: Random House Uk, 2018

Synopsis

Our personalities, aspirations and dreams are all established in our brains. It creates every feeling, emotion and desire we experience, and stores every one of our memories. And yet, until very recently, we believed that it stopped developing in childhood; that by the time you reached adolescence, your brain was fully developed. In Inventing Ourselves, award-winning neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore reveals that this is simply not the case.

There are fundamental differences between the adult and adolescent brain, and typical teenage behaviour – risk taking, intense relationships, going to bed and getting up late – is caused by the transformations that take place during this formative period. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these physiological changes are most evident in the prefrontal cortex, the region responsible for decision-making, planning, inhibiting inappropriate behaviour, evaluating risk and understanding others.

While working in a psychiatric hospital in Versailles, Sarah-Jayne Blakemore was struck by the realisation that every patient first experienced symptoms during this pivotal period. Why is this? What happens to our brains during our teenage years? And what makes adolescent brains particularly vulnerable to illnesses such as schizophrenia?

With implications for education, parenting and treating mental health conditions, Inventing Ourselves will transform the way we think about adolescence and reveal that the changes we experience throughout our teenage years dictate the adults we become.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London. She has published over 120 papers in scientific journals, and won multiple major awards for her research, including the ?British Psychological Society Spearman Medal 2006, the Turin Young Mind & Brain Prize 2013, the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award 2013 and the Klaus J. Jacobs Research Prize 2015. She was named in The Times Young Female Power List 2014 and was one of only four scientists on the Sunday Times 100 Makers of the 21st Century 2014. Professor Blakemore ?has two sons ?and lives in Hertfordshire. Inventing Ourselves is her first solo book.

Review

"An engaging and interesting book, written comprehensibly for a non-specialist audience. You will understand your children and your former selves better for reading it and you will bust a few myths as you go." * The Times * "There are few people more qualified to explain [adolescence] than the author of this compelling book. What I enjoyed most about this book was the readability and personal style of the narrative. Blakemore manages to present a highly accessible account of the science, without ever compromising on detail or depth...there is almost a sense that the reader is in the lab, listening in on the discussions and taking part in the decisions....This book has something to offer everyone ... Blakemore provides a unique and very up-to-date insight into the changes that occur during this intriguing period." -- Dr Catherine Loveday * The Psychologist * "Refreshingly and reassuringly light and lucid in both tone and approach ...an enjoyable, accessible, and insightful book by an author at the top of her field. ." * The Lancet * "A very readable book bringing together the up-to-date research about how the adolescent brain develops. This matters to both adolescents and parents but also should be read by everyone who looks after adolescents, be they teachers, doctors or psychologists." -- Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health "Inventing Ourselves is a gripping celebration of the teenage brain. Essential reading for parents, teachers and teens. Sane, wise, myth busting, this book is a triumph and should be read by every parent and teacher but they should be warned. They'll have to fight their teenagers to get this gripping book out of their hands." -- Dr Vivienne Parry OBE

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House Uk
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0857523716
• ISBN 13: 9780857523716
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256