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Have you ever tried
to understand a teenager?

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It's exhausting, right?

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You must be puzzled by the fact
that some teens do well in school,

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lead clubs and teams

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and volunteer in their communities,

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but they eat Tide Pods
for an online challenge,

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speed and text while driving,

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binge drink and experiment
with illicit drugs.

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How can so many teens
be so smart, skilled and responsible,

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and careless risk-takers at the same time?

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When I was 16,

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while frequently observing
my peers in person

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as well as on social media,

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I began to wonder why so many teens
took such crazy risks?

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It seems like getting a certificate
from DARE class in the fifth grade

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can't stop them.

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(Laughter)

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What was even more alarming to me

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was that the more they exposed
themselves to these harmful risks,

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the easier it became for them
to continue taking risks.

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Now, this confused me,

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but it also made me incredibly curious.

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So, as someone with a name

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that literally means
"to explore knowledge,"

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I started searching
for a scientific explanation.

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Now, it's no secret
that teens ages 13 to 18

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are more prone to risk-taking
than children or adults,

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but what makes them so daring?

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Do they suddenly become reckless,

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or is this just a natural phase
that they're going through?

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Well, neuroscientists
have already found evidence

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that the teen brain
is still in the process of maturation

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and that this makes them
exceptionally poor at decision-making,

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causing them to fall prey
to risky behaviors.

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But in that case,
if the maturing brain is to blame,

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then why are teens
more vulnerable than children,

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even though their brains
are more developed than those of children?

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Also, not all teens in the world
take risks at the same level.

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Are there some other underlying
or unintentional causes

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driving them to risk-taking?

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Well, this is exactly
what I decided to research.

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So, I founded my research
on the basis of a psychological process

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known as "habituation,"

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or simply what we refer to
as "getting used to it."

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Habituation explains how our brains
adapt to some behaviors,

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like lying, with repeated exposures.

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And this concept inspired me
to design a project

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to determine if the same principle

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could be applied to the relentless
rise of risk-taking in teenagers.

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So I predicted that
habituation to risk-taking

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may have the potential to change
the already-vulnerable teenage brain

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by blunting or even eradicating

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the negative emotions
associated with risk,

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like fear or guilt.

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I also thought because they
would feel less fearful and guilty,

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this desensitization would lead them
to even more risk-taking.

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In short, I wanted to conduct
a research study

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to answer one big question:

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why do teens keep making
outrageous choices

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that are harmful
to their health and well-being?

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But there was one big obstacle in my way.

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To investigate this problem,

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I needed teenagers to experiment on,

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laboratories and devices
to measure their brain activity,

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and teachers or professors to supervise me
and guide me along the way.

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I needed resources.

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But, you see, I attended
a high school in South Dakota

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with limited opportunity
for scientific exploration.

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My school had athletics,

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band, choir, debate and other clubs,

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but there were no STEM programs
or research mentors.

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And the notion of high schoolers

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doing research or participating
in a science fair was completely foreign.

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Simply put, I didn't exactly
have the ingredients

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to make a chef-worthy dish.

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And these obstacles were frustrating,

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but I was also a stubborn teenager,

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and as the daughter
of Bangladeshi immigrants

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and one of just a handful
of Muslim students

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in my high school in South Dakota,

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I often struggled to fit in,

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and I wanted to be someone
with something to contribute to society,

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not just be deemed
the scarf-wearing brown girl

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who was an anomaly
in my homogenous hometown.

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I hope that by doing this research,

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I could establish this

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and how valuable scientific exploration
could be for kids like me

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who didn't necessarily
find their niche elsewhere.

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So with limited research opportunities,

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inventiveness allowed me to overcome
seemingly impossible obstacles.

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I became more creative in working
with a variety of methodologies,

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materials and subjects.

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I transformed my unassuming school library

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into a laboratory

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and my peers into lab rats.

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(Laughter)

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My enthusiastic geography teacher,

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who also happens to be
my school's football coach,

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ended up as my cheerleader,

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becoming my mentor
to sign necessary paperwork,

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and when it became logistically impossible

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to use a laboratory
electroencephalography,

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or EEG,

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which are those electrode devices
used to measure emotional responses,

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I bought a portable EEG headset
with my own money,

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instead of buying the new iPhone X

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that a lot of kids my age
were saving up for.

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So finally I started the research

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with 86 students,
ages 13 to 18 from my high school.

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Using the computer cubicles
in my school library,

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I had them complete a computerized
decision-making simulation

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to measure their risk-taking behaviors
comparable to ones in the real world,

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like alcohol use, drug use and gambling.

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Wearing the EEG headset,

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the students completed the test
12 times over three days

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to mimic repeated risk exposures.

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A control panel on the EEG headset

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measured their various
emotional responses,

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the tension, interest,
excitement, frustration,

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guilt, stress levels and relaxation.

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They also rated their emotions

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on well-validated
emotion-measuring scales.

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This meant that I had measured
the process of habituation

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and its effects on decision-making.

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And it took 29 days
to complete this research,

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and with months of frantically
drafting proposals,

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meticulously computing data
in a caffeinated daze at 2am,

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I was able to finalize my results.

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And the results showed
that habituation to risk-taking

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could actually change a teen's brain
by altering their emotional levels,

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causing greater risk-taking.

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The students' emotions
that were normally associated with risks,

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like fear, stress, guilt and nervousness,

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as well as attention,

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were high when they were first
exposed to the risk simulator.

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This curbed their temptations
and enforced self-control,

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which prevented them
from taking more risks.

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However, the more they were exposed
to the risks through the simulator,

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the less fearful, guilty
and stressed they became.

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This caused a situation

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in which they were no longer able to feel

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the brain's natural
fear and caution instincts.

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And also, because they are teenagers
and their brains are still underdeveloped,

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they became more interested and excited
in thrill-seeking behaviors.

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So what were the consequences?

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They lacked self-control
for logical decision-making,

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took greater risks

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and made more harmful choices.

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So the developing brain alone
isn't to blame.

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The process of habituation
also plays a key role in risk-taking

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and risk escalation.

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Although a teen's willingness to seek risk

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is largely a result of the structural
and functional changes

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associated with their developing brains,

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the dangerous part
that my research was able to highlight

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was that a habituation to risks

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can actually physically
change a teen's brain

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and cause greater risk-taking.

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So it's the combination
of the immature teen brain

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and the impact of habituation

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that is like a perfect storm
to create more damaging effects.

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And this research can help parents
and the general public

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understand that teens aren't just
willfully ignoring warnings

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or simply defying parents by engaging
in increasingly more dangerous behavior.

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The biggest hurdle they're facing
is their habituation to risks,

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all the physical, detectable
and emotional functional changes

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that drive and control and influence
their over-the-top risk-taking.

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So yes, we need policies
that provide safer environments

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and limit exposures to high risks,

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but we also need policies
that reflect this insight.

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These results are
a wake-up call for teens too.

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It shows them that the natural
and necessary fear and guilt

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that protect them from unsafe situations

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actually become numb when they
repeatedly choose risky behaviors.

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So with this hope to share my findings
with fellow teenagers and scientists,

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I took my research

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to the Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF,

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a culmination of over 1,800 students

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from 75 countries,
regions and territories,

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who showcased their cutting-edge
research and inventions.

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It's like the Olympics of science fair.

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(Laughter)

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There, I was able to present my research
to experts in neuroscience and psychology

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and garner valuable feedback.

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But perhaps the most
memorable moment of the week

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was when the booming speakers
suddenly uttered my name

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during the awards ceremony.

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I was in such disbelief
that I questioned myself,

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was this just another "La La Land" blunder

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like at the Oscars?

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(Laughter)

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Luckily, it wasn't.

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I really had won first place

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in the category "Behavioral
and Social Sciences."

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(Applause)

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Needless to say,

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I was not only thrilled
to have this recognition,

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but also the whole experience
of science fair that validated my efforts

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keeps my curiosity alive

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and strengthens my creativity,

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perseverance and imagination.

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This still image of me
experimenting in my school library

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may seem ordinary,

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but to me, it represents
a sort of inspiration.

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It reminds me that this process
taught me to take risks,

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and I know that might sound
incredibly ironic,

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but I took risks realizing

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that unforeseen opportunities
often come from risk-taking,

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not the hazardous,
negative type that I studied,

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but the good ones,

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the positive risks.

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The more risks I took,

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the more capable I felt of withstanding
my unconventional circumstances,

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leading to more tolerance,
resilience and patience

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for completing my project,

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and these lessons
have led me to new ideas,

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like, is the opposite
of negative risk-taking also true?

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Can positive risk-taking
escalate with repeated exposures?

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Does positive action
build positive brain functioning?

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I think I just might have
my next research idea.

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(Applause)