Episode #3
The Adolescent Brain: Understanding Risk, Road Safety & Young Lives
Three years ago, Dr Jen Fraser and I sat down to talk about the adolescent brain — and the devastating number of young people losing their lives on our roads. Today, after five young men were killed on Irish roads over the weekend, the conversation feels painfully relevant. What happens inside a teenage brain when it encounters speed, risk, peer approval and the freedom of being behind the wheel? Dr Fraser explains that the adolescent brain is undergoing enormous change from roughly 12 or 13 through the mid-twenties. The systems associated with reward, novelty and social connection become highly active, while the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain involved in considering consequences and regulating impulses — is still developing. We explore why having friends in the car can increase risky driving, why a young person can know the rules perfectly in one moment and struggle to follow them in another, and why “cold cognition” and “hot cognition” matter when we talk about adolescent decision-making. But this isn't about blaming young people. It is about understanding them. If we know that adolescent brains are still developing, then surely we have a responsibility to give young people theknowledge and tools they need to navigate that development safely. We also talk about adolescent mental health, suicide, social media, emotional intensity and the role adults need to play increating safety around young people. Dr Fraser makes an important point: adolescents can sometimes look like adults, but neurologically they are still developing — and they need adults to be the “prefrontal cortex” until their own develops. This episode was recorded three years ago. Today, it feels like a conversation we desperately need to have again. Please listen. And please share it with a parent, teenager, teacher, coach or young driver. Because understanding the adolescent brain could be part of preventing the next tragedy. #TheFEMCAST #AdolescentBrain #RoadSafety#YoungDrivers #Neuroscience #TeenMentalHealth #YouthMentalHealth #RoadDeaths #SafeBrains Subscribe for more conversations that amplify women’s voices and dismantle the systems that silence them. Listen to The FEMCAST The FEMCAST website – https://thefemcast.com/ Follow us across our social media@thefemcast … links below Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thefemcast Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/4JtnosSn9HW9b9LtuHBISx YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thefemcast LinkedIn - http://bit.ly/46SL52h Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thefemcast/ X (Twitter) - https://x.com/thefemcast Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheFEMCAST
