I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better

When do people experience mental health conditions for the first time? — The key chart from Hannah Ritchie's new @OurWorldInData article: ourworldindata.org/when-do-p…

Last year, I was honoured to give the Huttenlocher Lecture at the @FluxSociety conference. Over the past year, I’ve been writing it into a paper: The developing adolescent brain: Implications for youth justice and children in criminal proceedings sciencedirect.com/science/ar…

Thank you for your excellent help and insights @ShauneenLambe and @sjblakemore

My sister is a marine naturalist, you can follow her and see her amazing videos of marine life (and some sheep) here: Duchess of Whales youtube.com/@WhaleWatcherNat…

RECRUITING 8-14 YEAR OLD PARTICIPANTS! If you are based in or near Cardiff and have a child aged 8-14 years who might be interested in taking part in our brain scanning study, you can find out more and register your interest here: beam-study.com/get-involved/ Please share!

Age of criminal responsibility should be raised from 10 to 14, according to Bar Council review observer.co.uk/news/national…

If you happen to be in Copenhagen on Tuesday evening please consider spending your evening listening to music and hearing me speak about neuroscience and adolescence

Please follow me on Instagram, where I’ll be posting neuroscience-related content instagram.com/sarahjayneblak…

Congratulations the @CambPsych prize winners! The Brenda Milner Prize 2025 was awarded to Dr @RakoenMaertens The Anne Treisman Prize 2025 was awarded ex aequo to Dr David Young and Dr Chloe Austerberry. See below for details: psychol.cam.ac.uk/news/congr…

I'm a psychologist. The problem with Adolescence, as brilliantly acted as people report it is, is that essentially it gives us a blank slate model of violence. This blank slate view of violence pervades the worst pseudo-research in forensic psychology advocacy as well (although there is good research as well in the field). The blank slate assumption is wrong, just factually wrong, and leads to the conclusion that all boys are potentially dangerous, and can be placid one year, and dangerous the next with the wrong influences. In actual fact, there is likely a large genetic component of sociopathy and callousness in violent youth, as well as cultural components, such as fatherlessness, and is not the case that crimes typically happen in the way shown in program. I don't think non-violent boys, with fathers present, are dangerous powder kegs. Boys should be treated with good expectations, great decency and respect. I think about 3% of men and boys are dangerous due to violent callousness, and will have shown prior signs of that since childhood. Nevertheless, the dangers of the internet are real, with warping influences. That is true. Knife crime in the UK does not tend to emerge primarily from stable homes like the one in the show. Evidence from systematic reviews, public health studies, and official statistics shows it is strongly associated with unstable family environments and gang involvement.

If you can afford to donate to charity this Christmas and are wondering which to support, consider a hospice. They rely on donations for most of their funding. Here’s an article (which I have posted before) about why it’s vital to support hospices archive.is/2024.12.12-011708…

A must listen! The wonderful Professor Mark Williams is interviewed on Leading podcast @RestIsPolitics Focusing on mindfulness, depression, faith and finding peace in the chaos open.spotify.com/episode/0hc…

I’m working in Auckland this term. New Zealand supermarkets offer free fruit for kids - does this happen in the UK? @sainsburys @Tesco @waitrose @asda @AldiUK @LidlGB @marksandspencer @Morrisons

Me too. It’s a shame, I wanted to stay on, but I am so done with the X algorithm constantly pushing accounts in which I have zero interest and have never engaged with to the top of my feed and notifications. That’s the only reason I’m leaving the building

⭐New Episode of MQ Open Mind⭐ @SuicideResearch talks with @sjblakemore about the teenage brain, myths about adolescence, and how neuroscience can reshape how we support young people 🎧linktr.ee/MQopenmind 📺youtu.be/xy7jkcSl8to