Well, we’re not to blame! An article from Phys.Org says that a new study in the field of neuroscience shows that while we have more grey matter – which is a type of neural tissue most commonly associated with intellect – our brains are less fully developed than those of mature adults. Which means, we are more like younger children than adults. Evidence from the study also suggests that the brain doesn’t completely mature until the late twenties and early thirties, which is much later than what was earlier believed.

The study, conducted by the University College London (UCL) used an MRI machine to observe the brain activity of 200 participants between the ages of seven and 27. The volunteers of the study were given tasks to do, while simultaneously having to ignore distractions and perform a side task.

The results showed that the brain activity for teenagers was much more than that of the adults showing that they were unable to use their brains as efficiently as the adults were. The easily distractible nature of teenage minds was explained by the excess grey matter – which is apparently responsible for chaotic thought processes. The fact that so much is going on inside the head of a teenager leads to a waste of energy and resources leading them to have an impaired decision making and multitasking ability.

So how will this knowledge affect our lives? Considering the fact that teenagers and people in their early twenties are so easily distractible should the government possibly raise the driving age, in order to lower the number of car accidents involving teens?