Why Did I Take More Risks When I Was Younger?

If your bungee-jumping kit is gathering dust these days, you might wonder why leaping from a great height no longer appeals to you. The blame lies with your sensible brain.

Ask yourself: when were the best, most memorable days of your life? According to research, your most meaningful and vivid memories come from your adolescence, when your brain was drinking in life’s experiences.

In the more adventurous adolescent years, a reward-seeking part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens is super-sensitive. Humans are driven by here-and-now rewards in their teen years more than at any other time in their lives. Dopamine-motivated desires are so powerful and the forward-thinking mind so immature that we are much more likely to be impulsive and rash. Without the brakes of a fully operational frontal lobe, there is a tendency to “act first and think later.”

As adults, we are less emotionally driven and dopamine-motivated because the analytical and planning parts of our brains have fully developed, allowing us to assess risks and make smarter choices accordingly.

Of course, many adults still take up thrill-seeking hobbies. They may have a gene that weakens the dopamine-throttling controls in the brain, meaning they get a bigger gush of feel-good dopamine when they drive fast, skydive, or snowboard the slopes.

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The so-called “responsible adult” part of your brain is called the prefrontal cortex, marked red in this image. This is where you assess thoughts and emotions and balance your desires and impulses against risk. During adolescence, this area rewires itself.