"The Teen Girl Brain: Insights into What Makes Us Women," is the topic of a free lecture on Wednesday, March 22.
The lecture, part of the Women's Health Today lecture series, is scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. at Cole Hall, UCSF Parnassus campus. People also can listen to the lecture via
the Internet.
Guest speaker, Louann Brizendine, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry at UCSF Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, will describe the changes in the female brain that begin two years before puberty and continue until the late teen and early adult years. The female brain undergoes massive growth and changes in circuitry during this time. This is true for boys too, but in different brain circuits than girls.
A neuropsychiatrist, educator, writer and researcher, Brizendine is the director of the Women's Mood and Hormone Clinic and author of the upcoming book, "The Female Brain," to be published by Random House in April 2006.
New research in neuroscience over the past several years has increased the understanding of what is going on in the brain of a teen-aged girl. For example, Brizindine will explain why emotions become more volatile to the point that even the smallest set-backs -- like a stain on a new dress --- seem like the end of the world. In this session, participants will learn about new findings in the teen girl brain and about various strategies that are being developed to help navigate this special stage of a female's life.
To learn about other lectures in this series, please see the
Center for Gender Equity website.
Source: Center for Gender Equity
