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Mission

The Center for Law, Brain & Behavior puts the most accurate and actionable neuroscience in the hands of judges, lawyers, policymakers and journalists—people who shape the standards and practices of our legal system and affect its impact on people’s lives. We work to make the legal system more effective and more just for all those affected by the law.

The Evolutionary Purpose of Adolescent Vulnerability: Decoding and Depathologizing Adolescent Neurobiology and Behavior

CLBB and Petrie-Flom Center | April 8, 2025 12:20-1:20 PM EST | Harvard Law School

Watch the recording of this event here.

Adolescents—human and animal alike—take risks, challenge authority, and navigate social hierarchies as part of their development. In her book Wildhood, researcher, physician, and author Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz explores how these behaviors are biologically ingrained and essential for survival. This event will examine how evolutionary biology supports the Supreme Court’s “Children Are Different” jurisprudence, reinforcing why adolescent decision-making should be understood through science rather than punishment. Dr. Natterson-Horowitz discussed Wildhood, and Marsha Levick, Esq., Chief Legal Officer and co-founder of Juvenile Law Center, connected this groundbreaking research to legal questions around juvenile confessions, Miranda rights, and competence to stand trial.

Panelists:

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD, PhD, Lecturer, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University; Lecturer, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Clinical Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, UCLA School of Medicine; Author, Wildhood

Marsha Levick, Esq, Chief Legal Officer and Co-founder, Juvenile Law Center

This event was organized by the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Center for Law, Brain and Behavior at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School with support from the Oswald DeN. Cammann Fund at Harvard University.

Cosponsored by the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard Kennedy School and the Youth Advocacy & Policy Lab‘s Child Advocacy Clinic at Harvard Law School.

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