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The Teenage Brain cover art

The Teenage Brain

Written by: Frances E. Jensen, Amy Ellis Nutt
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Frances E. Jensen
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Publisher's Summary

Drawing on her research, knowledge, and clinical experience, internationally respected neurologist--and mother of two boys--Frances E. Jensen, MD, offers a revolutionary look at the adolescent brain, providing remarkable insights that translate into practical advice both for parents and teenagers.

Driven by the assumption that brain growth was almost complete by the time a child reached puberty, scientists believed for many years that the adolescent brain was essentially an adult one--only with fewer miles on it. Over the last decade, however, neurology and neuroscience have revealed that the teen years encompass vitally important stages of brain development.

Motivated by her experience of parenting two teenagers, renowned neurologist Frances E. Jensen, MD, gathers what we've discovered about adolescent brain functioning and wiring and, in this groundbreaking, accessible audiobook, explains how these eye-opening findings not only dispel commonly held myths about teens but also yield practical suggestions for adults and teenagers negotiating the mysterious and magical world of adolescent biology.

Interweaving clear summary and analysis of research data with anecdotes drawn from her years as a clinician, researcher, and public speaker, Dr. Jensen explores adolescent brain functioning and development in the context of learning and multitasking, stress and memory, sleep, addiction, and decision making. Examining data connecting substance use to lingering memory issues and sometimes a lower adult IQ, The Teenage Brain explains why teenagers are not as resilient to the effects of drugs as we previously thought; reveals how multitasking impacts learning ability and concentration; and examines the consequences of stress on mental health during and beyond adolescence.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2015 Frances E. Jensen with Amy Ellis Nutt (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about The Teenage Brain

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  • 2021-01-25

Take some and leave some

I appreciate many of the topics addressed in this book, and the narrator is very clear (although her dramatic voice tone on some of the unfortunate consequences of bad choices is a bit much). I question the lack of logic in the causality articulated in early chapters. For example, if a significant portion of adults with anxiety disorders were first diagnosed when they were kids, I don't agree it implies that we need to protect our kids from anxiety, It could very well be the early label itself that causes the disorders later in life, or maybe there's no link at all, since there is no mention of how many who were Not diagnosed at an early age ended up with disorders later in life. I think If one looks for a disorder, one will find it, in every human being. We are imperfect and that makes us unique. it's about how we play with the cards were dealt and which new cards we pickup along the way, either on purpose or by chance. Also the author recommends some pretty drastic measures to control our teenagers, and while I get her point, I think it gets in the way of connecting and building trust with our teens which is key.
Still a worthwhile listen for sure, as one of many resources to understand our teens and the different perspectives used to help them navigate these formative years. And most importantly, she sheds light on how events and learnings are processed in the teenager's brain and why. This will help me be empathetic and be realistic with expectations of accountability and responsibility on their part. To be honest, it helps me accept some mistakes I made as a teen. You know those events you recall and wonder "What was I thinking?.." This book answers some of this.
This being said, the author isn't good at telling people what to do. There's a lot of arrogance in her parenting advice and it's hard to get past that. But the scientific pieces are revelating.

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great read

very good book listens very well easy voice to listen to lots of very good key points and good advice definitely going to rain again

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Priceless book

This book should be mandatory for all parents who wants to have kids. It definitely changed my thoughts towards my 4 young kids. God bless the writer and everyone who produced this book. It's sitting in a display in our family room as a bible.

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Better Title: Me, Me, Me and Brains

This book has very little to do with teenagers. It goes into a great deal of unnecessary specifics about the brain itself and the author talks about herself, her career, her parents constantly, ad nauseam. This book is her biography and nothing more. Returned.

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Remarkable information, very helpful.

The woman narrating had an Excellent articulation, great voice, I found this book to have very valuable content. I Will listen again and again. A real jewel for parents. It's the kind of book that should I meet the author, I respectfully want to shake her hand and thank her for this work.
I hope I can be a better parent with what I've learned here.

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Disappointing

I really wanted strategies and hands on knowledge of how to deal with my teenagers. This book did not deliver that.

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So logical and yet why didn't I know before ...

The parallel between science and everyday life is great! I enjoyed this book immensely!

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Excellent!

I would Recommend this book to all parents of teenagers or tweens, very educational, and I appreciated the medical point of view.

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