Attack of the Teenage Brain! Understanding and Supporting the Weird and Wonderful Adolescent Learner, March/2018

Marvel at the neuroscientific reasons why smart teens make dumb decisions!
Behold the mind-controlling power of executive function!
Thrill to a vision of a better school for the teenage brain!

Whether you’re a parent interacting with one adolescent or a teacher interacting with many, you know teens can be hard to parent and even harder to teach. The eye-rolling, the moodiness, the wandering attention, the drama. It’s not you, it’s them. More specifically, it’s their brains. 

In accessible language and with periodic references to Star Trek, motorcycle daredevils, and near-classic movies of the ‘80s, developmental molecular biologist John Medina, author of the New York Times best-seller Brain Rules, explores the neurological and evolutionary factors that drive teenage behavior and can affect both achievement and engagement. Then he proposes a research-supported counterattack: a bold redesign of educational practices and learning environments to deliberately develop teens’ cognitive capacity to manage their emotions, plan, prioritize, and focus.

Attack of the Teenage Brain! is an enlightening and entertaining read that will change the way you think about teen behavior and prompt you to consider how else parents, educators, and policymakers might collaborate to help our challenging, sometimes infuriating, often weird, and genuinely wonderful kids become more successful learners, in school and beyond.

About The Author:

Dr. John J. Medina is a developmental molecular biologist with special research interests in the isolation and characterization of genes involved in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders. Medina has spent most of his professional life as an analytical research consultant, working primarily in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries on research issues related to mental health. He holds an affiliate faculty appointment at the University of Washington School of Medicine in its Department of Bioengineering, where he has been named Outstanding Faculty of the Year at the College of Engineering, the Merrill Dow/Continuing Medical Education National Teacher of the Year, and twice, the Bioengineering Student Association Teacher of the Year.

Medina was the founding director of the Talaris Research Institute, a Seattle-based research center originally focused on how infants encode and process information at the cognitive, cellular, and molecular levels. Medina's books include the New York Times best-seller Brain Rules, the national best-seller Brain Rules for Baby, Brain Rules for Aging Well, The Clock of Ages, Depression, What You Need to Know About Alzheimer's, The Outer Limits of Life, Uncovering the Mystery of AIDS, The Genetic Inferno, and Of Serotonin, Dopamine and Antipsychotic Medications. He has produced numerous courses on brain function, including a 24-lecture set for The Great Courses Company called Your Best Brain. He has also worked as a consultant to the Education Commission and speaks regularly on the relationship between cognitive neuroscience and education.