Trying to find a reason not to let your kids have the car but can't think of a good one? Here's one:John Reid, a cognitive neuroscientist and research fellow with Swinburne University of Technology's Brain Sciences Institute, Victoria, said some teenagers' brains have not matured sufficiently to enable them to drive responsibly. The immature brain development is technically called the "incomplete myelination of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex" - basically, the wiring of the brain's control centre has not yet fully developed, making immature drivers less able to foresee the consequences of impulsive actions.
Such immature behaviour included speeding, machismo displays in front of peers, aggression and impatience, he said. "The thrill of the moment overrides any contemplation of the possible adverse consequences of the behaviour." A combination of adolescent hormonal changes that affected emotions and moods and an immature brain was "probably the real explanation of many young drivers' speed-related crashes", and was evident in other areas of adolescent life, he said.
Monash University Accident Research Centre director Ian Johnston said the theory was interesting but unproven and yet there was a trend that those who engaged in risky road behaviours tended to exhibit risky behaviour in other areas of their lives. "It's increasingly obvious that it's the same kinds of people who are involved in a whole range of high-risk situations: the same kinds of people who get into trouble on the road get into . . . drug taking, high-risk sports," he said.
November 25th, 2002, by Andrew Heasley, Transport Reporter, The Age
"It's increasingly obvious that..": no it sodding isn't. It's precisely as obvious as it always has been, to layman and psychologist alike. Bah.
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