ABSTRACT
This chapter clarifies some popular-press claims about the "teenage brain" and points to the difficult nature of research on the human brain when subjects are engaged in complex cognitive tasks such as reading. The gist of our argument echoes that of many scholars in the neurosciences: no brain study, especially when reported in the popular press, should be simplified and transformed into implications for practice in other fields. It provides an overview of findings regarding brain maturation and cognitive development during adolescence. The chapter reviews behavioural evidence on adolescents as they read and reflect on "their" literature, the world of Young Adult fiction. It needs a brief word about what may seem the odd combination of findings from the brain sciences with research studies done by anthropologists. The chapter concludes that one of the most deeply human, and humane, of these faculties is the power of imagination.
