Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

The best science writing helps us to look at ourselves and our world in new ways, and does this by combining compelling storytelling with scientific depth and detail. This book not only has all of these qualities, but also has something to offer every reader - whether you are a teenager, parent of a teenager, or just interested in understanding your former teenage self.

Completely captivating ... Blakemore explains the science behind teenage behaviour in a lucid and engaging way, deconstructs the myths that surround it, offers new insight into how we should treat teenagers, and reflects on how our new knowledge might usefully influence policy decisions. …This is truly a book that everyone should read.

Professor Dame Frances Ashcroft, chair of Royal Society Prize judges and professor of physiology at Oxford

An engaging and interesting book, written comprehensibly for a non-specialist audience. You will understand your children and your former selves better for reading it and you will bust a few myths as you go.

There are few people more qualified to explain [adolescence] than the author of this compelling book. What I enjoyed most about this book was the readability and personal style of the narrative. Blakemore manages to present a highly accessible account of the science, without ever compromising on detail or depth…there is almost a sense that the reader is in the lab, listening in on the discussions and taking part in the decisions….This book has something to offer everyone … Blakemore provides a unique and very up-to-date insight into the changes that occur during this intriguing period.

Refreshingly and reassuringly light and lucid in both tone and approach ...an enjoyable, accessible, and insightful book by an author at the top of her field.

A very readable book bringing together the up-to-date research about how the adolescent brain develops. This matters to both adolescents and parents but also should be read by everyone who looks after adolescents, be they teachers, doctors or psychologists.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health

Inventing Ourselves is a gripping celebration of the teenage brain. Essential reading for parents, teachers and teens. 
Sane, wise, myth busting, this book is a triumph and should be read by every parent and teacher but they should be warned. They’ll have to fight their teenagers to get this gripping book out of their hands.

The teenage brain is different, but in what way? This beautifully written book tells just how it influences and is influenced by the new challenging demands of a transformational phase of life. There is no sensationalism here. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore is a pioneer in the field and provides a meticulous account of what we know.

Inventing Ourselves is an accessible introduction both 
to neuroscience and experimental psychology, covering 
basic research techniques while providing an overview of 
recent studies of adolescence that will be of interest even 
to someone familiar with these fields. This balance is in 
large part due to the author’s ability to explain nuanced 
experiments with an infectious enthusiasm that engages 
the reader’s curiosity. Blakemore approaches the topic with 
a sympathy and respect for the adolescents she works with 
that is genuinely admirable. For anyone looking back on 
their teenage years, trying to raise a teenager, or working 
with adolescents, this book can help foster understanding 
about why adolescents act the way they do and how we 
become our adult selves.

Blakemore's mission is to convince us to celebrate the adolescent brain, not problematise it. The communication of the cutting-edge evidence behind her argument represents a unique combination of scientific rigor and excitement, in a superbly engaging account of the development and malleability of the human brain. This is essential reading for educationalists – and indeed for all those interested in how young people's brains develop, and the complex interplay between the environment and the human body.

Professor Becky Francis, Director, UCL Institute of Education

In an engaging work of scientific analysis combined with personal anecdote, Professor Blakemore has made an extremely important contribution to the way in which society (and criminal justice in particular) should approach adolescent crime, in particular, gang or group related. The book is thought provoking and should be essential reading for all those considering this difficult issue.

The Rt Hon, Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen's Bench Division

A brainy guide to the science behind teenagers' behaviour ... Inventing Ourselves is a timely book. Blakemore points out that we sometimes put too much trust in scientific studies, which, after all, produce findings not facts, and suggests that whatever we read about neuroscience “should be swallowed with a substantial swig of scepticism”. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore nails some neuro-myths and calls out the snake-oil salesmen, but warns against throwing the neuroscience baby out with the “brain baloney” bathwater.

Kevin Stannard, the director of innovation and learning at the Girls’ Day School Trust

Beautifully written with clarity, expertise and honesty about the most important subject for all of us. I couldn’t put it down.

This is a fascinating book, which captures the complexity of adolescence but at the same time provides a clear, accessible account of our current understanding of the ‘teenage brain’ ... Engaging and relevant. There is much still to learn about how the brain works but for now this book is not only an excellent introduction for someone new to this field but it also challenges us all to think again about the importance of the ‘teenage years’ and how we might work with (rather than against) the adolescents with whom we come into contact every day.

Professor Derek Bell, Director of Learnus

There are few scientists that can write about complex issues with such lucidity and force. Blakemore takes on the topic of adolescence and succeeds and sets a new bar for a no nonsense discussion about the crucial importance of brain development. Clearly, teenagers are assembling their minds right in front of our very eyes and Blakemore shows us how to understand the wonder and joy of it all.

Michael S. Gazzaniga, SAGE Center, University of California

A brilliant scientist reveals herself to be a writer of considerable talent. With precision, honesty and humour, Sarah Jayne-Blakemore shows how the brooding monsters in your living room are not children gone wrong: they are delicate machines in transition.

Charles Fernyhough, Professor Charles Fernyhough, Professor of Psychology, Durham University, author of The Voices Within

An irresistible insight into the teenage years. This book is utterly brilliant, Rarely have I read a book on education with such enjoyment.

Dame Alison Peacock, DBE, DLitt, Chief Executive, Chartered College of Teaching

We have learned a great deal about adolescent brain development in recent years, and this book is an up-to-date, authoritative, and accessible account of research that helps us understand, among other things, why teenagers sometimes take big risks, and why they are vulnerable to mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia.

Moheb Costandi, author of Neuroplasticity

I currently live with not one but two adolescent brains and, thanks to the thoughtful, lucid and illuminating scientific insights of Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, now at least I understand why they are so infuriating - and am even encouraged to try to do more to support my kids during this crucial, dramatic and maddening period of brain growth.

Roger Highfield, Director of External Affairs at the Science Museum, and author of Supercooperators: The Mathematics of Evolution, Altruism and Human Behaviour

An engrossing account of the adolescent brain, how it transforms, and how it ultimately shapes the adults we become.

Finally, a book about the adolescent brain written by someone who actually does the science! In this highly readable, ground-breaking book Blakemore takes us not only into the minds of teenagers, but into the minds of the people who study them. It’s a must-read for anyone interested in how adolescents think, and for everyone concerned about how to apply this knowledge to policy and practice.

Laurence Steinberg, Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, Temple University, and author of Age of Opportunity: Lessons From the New Science of Adolescence

[In adolescence] our behaviours, desires and moods, all of which feed into our happiness, become very different... This is a thorough, informative read across the whole subject.

A fine synthesis of psychology with the latest brain research. Books of the Year.

The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain

Winner of the 2020 British Psychological Society Popular Science Prize 
Winner of the 2018 Royal Society Science Book Prize. 
........................................................................................ 
Up to the minute brain science from a world class scientist. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore explains how the adolescent brain transforms as it develops and shapes the adults we become. 'Beautifully written with clarity, expertise and honesty about the most important subject for all of us. I couldn't put it down.' - Professor Robert Winston 
 
Drawing upon her cutting-edge research Professor Blakemore explores: 
· What makes the adolescent brain different? 
· Why does an easy child become a challenging teenager? 
· What drives the excessive risk-taking and the need for intense friendships common to teenagers? 
· Why it is that many mental illnesses - depression, addiction, schizophrenia - begin during these formative years. 
And she shows that while adolescence is a period of vulnerability, it is also a time of enormous creativity and opportunity.

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore

Praise for Inventing Ourselves

The best science writing helps us to look at ourselves and our world in new ways, and does this by combining compelling storytelling with scientific depth and detail. This book not only has all of these qualities, b ...

Completely captivating ... Blakemore explains the science behind teenage behaviour in a lucid and engaging way, deconstructs the myths that surround it, offers new insight into how we should treat teenagers, and ref ...

Absolutely fascinating

The best science writing helps us to look at ourselves and our world in new ways, and does this by combining compelling storytelling with scientific depth and detail. This book not only has all of these qualities, b ...

Completely captivating ... Blakemore explains the science behind teenage behaviour in a lucid and engaging way, deconstructs the myths that surround it, offers new insight into how we should treat teenagers, and ref ...

Absolutely fascinating

The best science writing helps us to look at ourselves and our world in new ways, and does this by combining compelling storytelling with scientific depth and detail. This book not only has all of these qualities, b ...

Completely captivating ... Blakemore explains the science behind teenage behaviour in a lucid and engaging way, deconstructs the myths that surround it, offers new insight into how we should treat teenagers, and ref ...

Absolutely fascinating

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