Close-up: teen brain.

The thrills of a lifetime: the teen brain is wired for thrills, chills, and adventure. Here's how to make the most of it.

"It's really scary," says 16-year-old Que Walker. "You're nervous and shaking. Then afterward, you get that same feeling you get coming off a roller coaster. You want to go again!"

Is Que talking about the effects of a drug? Other articles in this series have presented the stories of teens who've abused LSD, cocaine, and painkilling drugs. Although Que's intense feelings might sound like a drug high, she doesn't get her thrills from drugs. This teenager from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, is describing a poetry jam, where she reads her own verses to other teens.

NOT YOUR PARENTS' BRAIN

There's a reason Que is attracted to something as terrifying as baring her innermost thoughts to a live audience. It's the same reason you might get a thrill from the latest hit radio song, a new friend, or a cool cell phone: You're both teenagers. Your brains are different from an adult brain in many ways.

First, the emotional center of the brain develops early. The brain's limbic system is responsible for emotional reactions, especially those involving pleasure or excitement. When you think about a cheeseburger or a scary movie you don't make a decision to feel a certain way; your limbic system makes it happen. In teenagers, this system is highly active. Big emotions come easily to teens.

TEEN DRIVE

Your teen brain helps you in the most important task of adolescence: becoming an accomplished, independent adult. The limbic system creates feelings of drive and motivation. You'll study harder and practice longer because your teenage brain is built for that. Teenagers also seek out risky experiences that create big emotional reactions. "Adolescents are learning to become adults, and learning new things always involves risk," says R. Andrew Chambers, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut. Of course, the same brain wiring that attracts teens to positive risks may also make truly dangerous experiences--like drug use--seem attractive. And negative consequences are not always easy for teens to process.

There's a reason teens may find it harder than adults to plan ahead and consider consequences: the part of the brain responsible for those kinds of thought--the prefrontal cortex--is the last part of the brain to fully develop. "The pre-frontal cortex is like the boss. It's very much about decision making, planning and regulating raw emotions," Dr. Chambers says. Compared to teens, the adult prefrontal cortex works more quickly to balance the emotional "gut" reaction of the limbic system.

SHAPING YOUR BRAIN

Knowing about your teen brain is important. As you head into adulthood, your daily experiences shape your brain. Brain paths for skills you don't use often are trimmed away. Pathways for skills and experiences you repeat are made stronger. This "brain pruning" is one reason why it is important for teens to have positive experiences.

Knowing this can help you seek out challenging experiences that don't put your brain or body at risk. "Anything a person finds challenging and interesting can have its rewards," says Linda Spear, Ph.D., distinguished professor of psychology at Binghamton University in New York.

Jeremiah Cobb, of Bolton, Massachusetts, climbed a 12,000-foot mountain in Wyoming last summer. "When we reached the top, it was a great feeling." the 16-year-old says. You might find satisfaction from cooking some spicy chili, or get a thrill from playing a new rift on your guitar. It's your teen brain: Enjoy it and use it wisely!

BRAIN CHANGE: TWO VERY DIFFERENT WAYS

Teens who experience real thrills often feel satisfied But in the search for a kick, some teens make the dangerous turn to drugs. People who use drugs may feel depressed and crave more drugs. To understand why, you have to look inside the brain.

During an actual thrilling experience, brain cells, or neurons, create feelings by sending and receiving chemicals called neurotransmitters.

Teens who use drugs might experience a rush of feelings, too, but in their brains something very different is happening. Once in the brain, drugs of abuse are similar in size and shape to brain chemicals or neurotransmitters. Because of that, drugs can create fake messages. They may also cause floods of neurotransmitters. Most drugs of abuse act on the brain's emotional center, no these fake messages and floods create intense feelings. That's how drubs, in a sense, trick the brain.

Neurons respond to the floods of neurotransmitters by altering their chemical message system. Now, the brain doesn't have enough, or can't use, its own natural chemicals to create normal feelings. The drug user feels flat nod even depressed, "Kids who are using drugs may not find as much pleasure in hanging out with their friends, or swimming on a nice day," says Dr. Spear. "So much of their behavior is directed toward finding more dry." When drug users search out drubs, even when they know it's wrong, they are addicted. Addiction is a brain disease; the brain is changed and does not function normally. The way out of addiction is through the hard work of treatment and therapy.

Help When You Need It

For teens in emotional pain--feeling angry, hurt or depressed-drug use may seem like a way out. But using drugs makes every situation worse. Every teen should know that real relief is available. New research shows that psychotherapy can lift your spirits and actually change your brain. The brain's pathways can be weakened or damaged by many things in the environment, such an emotional trauma in childhood, But learning something new--like how to express anger or talk about feelings calmly--can help the brain process information and think more clearly. "The brain is a very plastic organ. It's changing all the time," says Dr. Joseph Frascella, NIDA's Chief of Clinical Neurobiology. For more information on the science behind drug abuse, visit www.teens.drugabuse.gov.

If you or someone you know needs help in finding therapy, ask a trusted adult, such as a parent, teacher, or religious leader, if the problem is drug abuse, visit www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov or call 1-800-662-HELP to find a drug treatment center near you.