Teenagers and the Effects of Peer Pressure

The effects of peer pressure on teenagers is much more significant than I had ever thought it was. According to studies presented in an article on teen driving posted in the New York times, peer pressure has a direct effect on the brain's activity. The article mentions that peer pressure effects brain signals dealing with risk and reward. I guess I just had never really thought about why peer pressure always took a toll on teenagers, I just knew it was on most adolescent's minds when it came to making decisions. After reading the article it makes sense why so many teenagers have a harder time saying no to negative peer pressure.. On the surface it always just seemed to me that people wanted to act or to come across a certain way to their peers and that is why teens fell into peer pressure. However, when looking at how peer pressure physically affects our brain signals intrigues me and makes it clear why it is so hard to say no to peer pressure at times. It is also interesting to see the difference between teenagers and college students or adults when it comes to the effects of peer pressure on the brain signals. Why is it only teenagers' brains who are so greatly effected by peer pressure. It seems to me as though the teenage years of a person's life are the years in which they deal with the most peer pressure. Maybe that has something to do with it? Whatever the cause, I find it very interesting to look at the actual physical effect of peer pressure on the brain's activity and I also find it very interesting that it has a greater effect on teenage brains then it does on adults and young adults.