Teens take more chances when friends are around

When other teens are around, teens are more likely to take chances. But why? Jason Chein, an assistant professor of psychology at Temple, looked for answers in brain images made while teens decided in a simulated driving game whether to run a yellow light. In some cases, the teens were alone; in others, friends were in another room. Chein found teens took more risks when friends were around. "The only brain regions that showed this sensitivity to peer context are those that we associate with reward-based processing," he said.
April 8, 2011 | HHS HealthBeat