This is another study that shows the impact that marijuana can have on memory, especially in adolescence. It is important to note that studies that abide by ethical and legal constraints do not conduct these sort of tests on human subjects, rather they use mice.

This page discusses the negative impacts that chronic alcohol use will have on the teenage brain. Adolescents that use alcohol at their young age can experience permanent brain damage, specifically concerning with the ability to commit information to memory.

This page outlines some of the visible and abstract changes of the brain as teens progress through adolescence.

Here is a site with more information on using visible thinking strategies.

This article outlines some of the uses of video games and education. It even explains that video games are used in India to promote literacy.

Learned helplessness can apply to both humans and animals. It is particularly applicable for our students, who may have LEARNED that they just cannot grasp math and/or science.

From the article: A high-fat diet in adolescence appears to have long-lasting effects on learning and memory during adulthood, a new study in mice finds.

This article deals with depression among teens, possible sources of depression, and reasons why these episodes should be taken very seriously.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this program. One of the greatest strengths of the program is that it appeals to the user-interface trend of learning that kids really enjoy; they get to interact with their learning materials! Rather than reading descriptions of the brain, students can click on different parts and hear descriptions, processing and/or reprocessing information at their own pace. Also, the program integrates knowledge of the brain with tips on how to use such knowledge of succeed in school. The role models are struggling students, thus the program provides characters that players can relate to. I found very few weaknesses with the program, although I did find some ways for the program to improve. My greatest concern is that the program can be hard to navigate. I managed -- I still don't know how -- to skip a large part of the program. I had to redo the program from scratch in order to go through it properly. Also, the very erratic jumps from image to image, for me, was a bit distracting, although perhaps a student observer may appreciate the quick pace of the program. Overall, although there are ways for the program to improve, I think it is a wonderful tool for brain and learning education.