The Secret Life of the Brain: The Teenage Brain--A World of Their Own

The third installment in PBS's five-part The Secret Life of the Brain concentrates on the "work in progress" of the adolescent brain, beginning with the development and importance of the pre frontal cortex--which plays a major role in determining our morals, personality and conduct. Viewers are liable to be confused by the somewhat misleading general title; in fact, the program spends little time on a "normal" teen brain, focusing instead on dysfunctions and abnormalities that the brain is most susceptible to during the adolescent years. The two main topics covered here are schizophrenia and drug abuse, with some teens relating their own horror stories, but more frequently the dialogue comes from the parents describing the mental lives of their troubled teens (as if they would be the best guides to the turbulence and confusion of a teenager's mind). Expert commentary from scholars drawn from the National Institute of Mental Health as well as the universities of Pennsylvania, Iowa, and North Carolina, lend an academic atmosphere to the proceedings, but the lack of content related to typical teen markers such as adolescent sexuality and raging hormones is somewhat mystifying. Collections with strong mental health holdings will surely want to consider this and the other titles in the series (The Baby's Brain: Wider Than the Sky, The Child's Brain: Syllable From Sound, The Adult Brain: To Think By Feeling and The Aging Brain: Through Many Lives--series price for all five titles $79.98 or $129.98 w/PPR), but for others this is an optional purchase. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Williams)