Time, May 31, 2004

の表紙に踊る見出しは、SECRETS OF THE TEEN BRAIN。
ゲーム脳の話が出ていたらどうしようと思ったが、さすがに出ておらず、やれやれ。
メディアや何ちゃらの悪影響という話ではなく、幼児期〜思春期にかけての脳発達に関する研究を紹介したレポート。
日本の雑誌の脳関係の記事よりは、落ち着いた感じの内容。

Brain scientists tend to be reluctant to make the leap from the laboratory to real-life, hard-core teenagers. Some feel a little burned by the way earlier neurological discoveries resulted in Baby Einstein tapes and other marketing schemes that misapplied their science.

(p.43)

それが、まっとうな（脳）科学者というもんでしょうて。
ただ、このあと、記事はこう続く。

It is clear, however, that there are implications in the new research for parents, educators and lawmakers.
In light of what has been learned, it seems almost arbitrary that American society has decided that a young man or young woman is ready to drive a car at 16, to vote and serve in the Army at 18 and to drink alcohol at 21. Giedd*1 says the best estimate for when the brain is truly mature is 25, the age at which you can rent a car in the U.S. ......Now that there is scientific evidence that the adolescent brain is not quite up to scratch, some U.S. legal scholars and child advocates argue that those under 18 should never be tried as adults ad should be spared the death penalty. Last year, in an official statement that summarized current reasearch on the adolescent brain, the American Bar Association urged all state legislatures to ban the death penalty for juveniles. "For social and biological reasons," it read, "teens have increased difficulty making mature decisions and understanding the consequences of their actions."

(p.43)

あまり詳しいことはうかがい知れないので何とも言えないところはあるが、脳科学研究の知見が、ダイレクトに政策提言（政策決定）につながっているのだとしたら、やはりそのことには危うさをおぼえる。
とりあえず、もうワンクッションは必要でしょうて。

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*1: この記事で中心的にとりあげられている脳研究者