How risk-taking changes a teenager's brain | Kashfia Rahman

Have you ever tried to understand a teenager?

It's exhausting, right?

You must be puzzled by the fact that some teens do well in school,

lead clubs and teams

and volunteer in their communities,

but they eat Tide Pods for an online challenge,

speed and text while driving,

binge drink and experiment with illicit drugs.

How can so many teens be so smart, skilled and responsible --

and careless risk-takers at the same time?

When I was 16,

while frequently observing my peers in person

as well as on social media,

I began to wonder why so many teens took such crazy risks.

It seems like getting a certificate from DARE class in the fifth grade

can't stop them.

(Laughter)

What was even more alarming to me

was that the more they exposed themselves to these harmful risks,

the easier it became for them to continue taking risks.

Now this confused me,

but it also made me incredibly curious.

So, as someone with a name

that literally means "to explore knowledge,"

I started searching for a scientific explanation.

Now, it's no secret that teens ages 13 to 18

are more prone to risk-taking than children or adults,

but what makes them so daring?

Do they suddenly become reckless,

or is this just a natural phase that they're going through?

Well neuroscientists have already found evidence

that the teen brain is still in the process of maturation --

and that this makes them exceptionally poor at decision-making,

causing them to fall prey to risky behaviors.

But in that case, if the maturing brain is to blame,

then why are teens more vulnerable than children,

even though their brains are more developed than those of children?

Also, not all teens in the world take risks at the same level.

Are there some other underlying or unintentional causes

driving them to risk-taking?

Well, this is exactly what I decided to research.

So, I founded my research on the basis of a psychological process

known as "habituation,"

or simply what we refer to as "getting used to it."

Habituation explains how our brains adapt to some behaviors,

like lying, with repeated exposures.

And this concept inspired me to design a project

to determine if the same principle

could be applied to the relentless rise of risk-taking in teenagers.

So I predicted that habituation to risk-taking

may have the potential to change the already-vulnerable teenage brain

by blunting or even eradicating

the negative emotions associated with risk,

like fear or guilt.

I also thought because they would feel less fearful and guilty,

this desensitization would lead them to even more risk-taking.

In short, I wanted to conduct a research study

to answer one big question:

Why do teens keep making outrageous choices

that are harmful to their health and well-being?

But there was one big obstacle in my way.

To investigate this problem,

I needed teenagers to experiment on,

laboratories and devices to measure their brain activity,

and teachers or professors to supervise me and guide me along the way.

I needed resources.

But, you see, I attended a high school in South Dakota

with limited opportunity for scientific exploration.

My school had athletics,

band, choir, debate and other clubs,

but there were no STEM programs or research mentors.

And the notion of high schoolers

doing research or participating in a science fair was completely foreign.

Simply put, I didn't exactly have the ingredients

to make a chef-worthy dish.

And these obstacles were frustrating,

but I was also a stubborn teenager.

And as the daughter of Bangladeshi immigrants

and one of just a handful of Muslim students

in my high school in South Dakota,

I often struggled to fit in.

And I wanted to be someone with something to contribute to society,

not just be deemed the scarf-wearing brown girl

who was an anomaly in my homogenous hometown.

I hoped that by doing this research,

I could establish this

and how valuable scientific exploration could be for kids like me

who didn't necessarily find their niche elsewhere.

So with limited research opportunities,

inventiveness allowed me to overcome seemingly impossible obstacles.

I became more creative in working with a variety of methodologies,

materials and subjects.

I transformed my unassuming school library

into a laboratory

and my peers into lab rats.

(Laughter)

My enthusiastic geography teacher,

who also happens to be my school's football coach,

ended up as my cheerleader,

becoming my mentor to sign necessary paperwork.

And when it became logistically impossible

to use a laboratory electroencephalography,

or EEG,

which are those electrode devices used to measure emotional responses,

I bought a portable EEG headset with my own money,

instead of buying the new iPhone X

that a lot of kids my age were saving up for.

So finally I started the research

with 86 students, ages 13 to 18, from my high school.

Using the computer cubicles in my school library,

I had them complete a computerized decision-making simulation

to measure their risk-taking behaviors comparable to ones in the real world,

like alcohol use, drug use and gambling.

Wearing the EEG headset,

the students completed the test 12 times over three days

to mimic repeated risk exposures.

A control panel on the EEG headset

measured their various emotional responses:

like attention, interest, excitement, frustration,

guilt, stress levels and relaxation.

They also rated their emotions

on well-validated emotion-measuring scales.

This meant that I had measured the process of habituation

and its effects on decision-making.

And it took 29 days to complete this research.

And with months of frantically drafting proposals,

meticulously computing data in a caffeinated daze at 2am,

I was able to finalize my results.

And the results showed that habituation to risk-taking

could actually change a teen's brain by altering their emotional levels,

causing greater risk-taking.

The students' emotions that were normally associated with risks,

like fear, stress, guilt and nervousness,

as well as attention,

were high when they were first exposed to the risk simulator.

This curbed their temptations and enforced self-control,

which prevented them from taking more risks.

However, the more they were exposed to the risks through the simulator,

the less fearful, guilty and stressed they became.

This caused a situation

in which they were no longer able to feel

the brain's natural fear and caution instincts.

And also, because they are teenagers and their brains are still underdeveloped,

they became more interested and excited in thrill-seeking behaviors.

So what were the consequences?

They lacked self-control for logical decision-making,

took greater risks

and made more harmful choices.

So the developing brain alone isn't to blame.

The process of habituation also plays a key role in risk-taking

and risk escalation.

Although a teen's willingness to seek risk

is largely a result of the structural and functional changes

associated with their developing brains,

the dangerous part that my research was able to highlight

was that a habituation to risks

can actually physically change a teen's brain

and cause greater risk-taking.

So it's the combination of the immature teen brain

and the impact of habituation

that is like a perfect storm to create more damaging effects.

And this research can help parents and the general public

understand that teens aren't just willfully ignoring warnings

or simply defying parents by engaging in increasingly more dangerous behavior.

The biggest hurdle they're facing is their habituation to risks:

all the physical, detectable and emotional functional changes

that drive and control and influence their over-the-top risk-taking.

So yes, we need policies that provide safer environments

and limit exposures to high risks,

but we also need policies that reflect this insight.

These results are a wake-up call for teens, too.

It shows them that the natural and necessary fear and guilt

that protect them from unsafe situations

actually become numb when they repeatedly choose risky behaviors.

So with this hope to share my findings with fellow teenagers and scientists,

I took my research

to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF,

a culmination of over 1,800 students

from 75 countries, regions and territories,

who showcase their cutting-edge research and inventions.

It's like the Olympics of science fair.

(Laughter)

There, I was able to present my research to experts in neuroscience and psychology

and garner valuable feedback.

But perhaps the most memorable moment of the week

was when the booming speakers suddenly uttered my name

during the awards ceremony.

I was in such disbelief that I questioned myself:

Was this just another "La La Land" blunder

like at the Oscars?

(Laughter)

Luckily, it wasn't.

I really had won first place

in the category "Behavioral and Social Sciences."

(Applause)

Needless to say,

I was not only thrilled to have this recognition,

but also the whole experience of science fair that validated my efforts

keeps my curiosity alive

and strengthens my creativity,

perseverance and imagination.

This still image of me experimenting in my school library

may seem ordinary,

but to me, it represents a sort of inspiration.

It reminds me that this process taught me to take risks.

And I know that might sound incredibly ironic.

But I took risks realizing

that unforeseen opportunities often come from risk-taking --

not the hazardous, negative type that I studied,

but the good ones,

the positive risks.

The more risks I took,

the more capable I felt of withstanding my unconventional circumstances,

leading to more tolerance, resilience and patience

for completing my project.

And these lessons have led me to new ideas

like: Is the opposite of negative risk-taking also true?

Can positive risk-taking escalate with repeated exposures?

Does positive action build positive brain functioning?

I think I just might have my next research idea.

(Applause)