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Neurobiology of Risk Taking and Impulsivity
Book chapter   Peer reviewed

Neurobiology of Risk Taking and Impulsivity

Michael Nagel
Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development, pp.1-8
Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad361
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https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119171492.wecad361View
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Abstract

Specialist Studies in Education dopamine limbic system nucleus accumbens prefrontal cortex ventral tegmental area
Risk taking and impulsivity are common behavioral traits during adolescence. That is not to say that children and adults do not engage in similar behaviors; however, such behaviors are more numerous and extreme during adolescence. This may be one of the reasons why during adolescence young people are at a much greater risk of injury or death as a result of placing themselves in harm's way. It is also during adolescence that behaviors associated with experimentation (i.e., illicit drug use, alcohol consumption, and unprotected sex) can lead to aversive outcomes, largely as a consequence of preventable risk taking. Interestingly, there appears to be a neurobiological link to adolescent risk taking and impulsivity, which when considered offers a framework for understanding and engaging adolescents that goes beyond culture and context.

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