Social media is built around rewards—a digital feedback loop of likes, shares, and comments. For teenagers, whose brains are still developing, the risks associated with those rewards may not be immediately apparent.

At The Walrus Talks at Home: Teens and Screens, Dr. Emma Duerden, Canada Research Chair in Neuroscience and Learning Disorders at Western University, explains how the adolescent brain’s reward system develops earlier than its cognitive control centre—and what that means for how young people experience both online and offline spaces.

Dr. Duerden spoke at The Walrus Talks at Home: Teens and Screens on October 10, 2024.

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