Teenage Brain

The teenage brain is special. Less [plastic:fantastic] than a child's developing brain, but not yet with all of the executive functions of an adult [noggin:origin] . And that makes them more vulnerable to long-term effects of head injury, according to new research. Especially when it comes to sports-related concussions. In football, soccer, hockey or rugby, the top-front of the head usually [receives:perceive] the brunt of the blow. And that region is where the all-important executive [function:dysfunction] areas are forming for teenagers: the frontal cortex. To learn more, researchers recruited 96 male sports participants, ages 9 to 26, half of whom had had a [diagnosed:disposed] concussion in the past year.