Adolescents Respond More to Rewards Than Adults

There's a sharp increase in sensitivity to rewards and novel information from childhood to adolescence, but then there's a sharp decrease from adolescence to adulthood. Adriana understood that teenagers' brains respond more to rewards, but how does that affect their decision-making? For example, if we want to test how the adolescent brain responds when they are taking a risk, we try to mimic and present them with a virtual environment where they are asked to take risks.