Legislature(2025 - 2026)BUTROVICH 205
03/14/2025 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY
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| Audio | Topic |
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| Start | |
| Presentation(s): Supporting the Connecting Brain During Adolescence | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
SENATE JUDICIARY STANDING COMMITTEE
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
March 14, 2025
1:30 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
SENATE JUDICIARY
Senator Matt Claman, Chair
Senator Jesse Kiehl, Vice Chair
Senator Gary Stevens
Senator Robert Myers
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Gary Stevens, Vice Chair
Senator Jesse Kiehl
MEMBERS ABSENT
SENATE JUDICIARY
Senator Löki Tobin
SENATE EDUCATION STANDING COMMITTEE
Senator Löki Tobin, Chair
Senator Jesse Bjorkman
Senator Mike Cronk
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
PRESENTATION(S): SUPPORTING THE CONNECTING BRAIN DURING
ADOLESCENCE
- HEARD
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record
WITNESS REGISTER
ADRIANA GALVAN, Co-Executive Director
Center for the Developing Adolescent
University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
POSITION STATEMENT: Delivered a presentation on the
developmental science of adolescent brain development and its
association with system impacted young people, particularly in
the carceral system.
ACTION NARRATIVE
1:30:54 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN called the joint meeting of the Senate Judiciary
Standing Committee and the Senate Education Standing Committee
to order at 1:30 p.m. Present at the call to order were Senators
Myers, Stevens, Kiehl, and Chair Claman from the Senate
Judiciary Standing Committee and Senators Kiehl, and Vice-Chair
Stevens from the Senate Education Standing Committee.
^PRESENTATION(S): SUPPORTING THE CONNECTING BRAIN DURING
ADOLESCENCE
PRESENTATION(S): SUPPORTING THE CONNECTING BRAIN
DURING ADOLESCENCE
1:31:46 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN announced a presentation on supporting the
connecting brain during adolescence by Dr. Adriana Galvan, Co-
Executive Director of the UCLA Center for the Developing
Adolescent. He asked her to identify herself for the record and
begin her presentation.
1:32:39 PM
ADRIANA GALVAN, Co-Executive Director, Center for the Developing
Adolescent, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los
Angeles, California introduced herself. She is also dean and
vice-provost of undergraduate education & professor of
psychology at UCLA. She expressed her intention to share
research on adolescent brain development and system impacted
young people, particularly in the carceral system. She qualified
her experience, stating she is a neuroscientist by training. She
studied the adolescent brain for over 25 years, focusing her
attention on understanding the dopamine system in the brain, the
reward system, and the prefrontal cortex. She also focused on
understanding how normal changes that happen in the brain during
adolescence support transition into adulthood.
1:33:47 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slides 2 and 3, What Is Adolescence? The
graph on slide 2 shows the developmental periods of adolescence.
She explained that the definition and developmental stages of
adolescence are not agreed upon in the research and science
community, because adolescence spans many years. It typically
starts when puberty begins, 10-12 years of age, and it continues
through the early to mid-20s when the brain stops developing and
starts aging. The graph, on slide 2, shows the age ranges for
the different phases of adolescence, which are the early,
middle, and late phases. Each phase is distinct in how
adolescents interact socially, their biological changes, and the
length of each phase.
MS. GALVAN continued the topic on slide 3, which pictured a
group of 14-year-old eighth graders who were in vastly different
stages of physical, social, and psychological development. She
explained that adolescence is distinct from other age groups
because its onset varies widely among individuals, as seen in
the photo, and the experiences they have as per their community
involvement and school environment.
1:35:37 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 4, Why is Adolescence Special? She
stated that scientists and developmental psychologists have
shown renewed interest in studying adolescence. She explained
that research investments in adolescent development build upon
the extensive work done in early childhood development.
Adolescence is the final stage of development before adulthood
and represents the last opportunity to provide the right
experiences for young people.
1:37:17 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slides 5 and 6, Brain Development During
Adolescence. These slides indicate that brain development during
adolescence is "fundamentally a story of connection within the
brain and between young people and their environments."
MS. GALVAN said young people undergo significant brain
development during their adolescent period. She clarified that
development, in this sense, does not refer to the size of the
brain, which generally stabilizes around age five. Rather, it
refers to the ongoing refinement of neural connections. She said
major developmental gains occur in the prefrontal cortex, the
region responsible for decision-making and future planning.
Other regions of the brain support how young people learn about
their environment, their social connections, etc. She explained
that, based on research synthesized by her and her colleagues at
the Center for the Developing Adolescent, understanding the
adolescent brain means understanding how those neural
connections form and strengthen.
MS. GALVAN emphasized that experiences during adolescence have a
powerful influence on how effectively the brain forms its
interrelated connections and shape how well adolescents connect
to their communities, schools, and emerging passions. She
explained that the connections within the brain and those
between adolescents and their environments are equally important
and influence one another bilaterally. The connections made in
the community are integral to those made within the brain. She
defined the final stage of adolescent development as the onset
of adulthood when the brain becomes capable of faster processing
and using its neurons to plan for the future.
1:39:18 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 7, Brain Connectivity is Refined
During Adolescence. Slide 7 shows an image of a glass brain that
represents all the connections which exist in the brain from
birth. She said that during adolescence there is a greater
refinement of these connections from the front to the back of
the brain, which helps with different aspects of development,
like impulse control skills.
1:40:02 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slides 8 and 9, Plasticity in Brain
Development During Adolescence:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Neurons can gain and lose about 25 percent of their
connections weekly at puberty
Drops to about 10 percent in adulthood
MS. GALVAN stated that during adolescence, the brain exhibits
tremendous plasticity, which refers to the brains capacity to
incorporate new information. For example, young babies are able
to learn language because their brains are plastic and receptive
to the language of their parents and caregivers. She said
adolescent brains have a second wave of plasticity during which
neurons change in response to their environment. She drew
attention to two images on the slides, explaining they show
visible changes in synapses from one day to the next in a model
system of adolescence. Neurons can gain and lose approximately
twenty-five percent of their connections weekly, or, in some
cases, daily, during puberty. Neurons make and lose connections
at a rapid rate in response to environmental input. In adverse
environments, neurons are lost more quickly during adolescence;
conversely, in enriching environments, neurons are gained more
quickly. The ability to lose or gain neurons drops from twenty-
five percent during adolescence to about ten percent [in
adulthood.] She emphasized this illustrates a clear distinction
between adolescent and adult brain plasticity.
1:41:57 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slides 10 and 11, A Brain Designed for
Exploration and Connection. Slide 10 showed an illustration of
the brain, where the striatal regions are located, and indicated
this region responds to diverse rewards. The slide indicates
that motivation and reward systems are more active in
adolescents. Slide 11 showed a diagram which compared the
adolescent hippocampus and striatum regions of the brain to that
of adults. The slide indicates that adolescents are uniquely
skilled at exploratory and flexible learning.
MS. GALVAN said one of the key regions that undergoes the
greatest plasticity is the striatum. She explained that the
striatum supports the brain's motivational, reward, and learning
systems. The motivational system drives adults, adolescents, and
babies toward specific behaviors at each stage of development
and this motivation system is particularly active during
adolescence. She referred to the areas in yellow, stating the
brain shows greater activation in the striatal region of the
adolescent brain compared to those of the adult brain. She
explained that neurons in the adolescent brain exhibit
heightened responsiveness to reward stimuli, meaning that when
adolescents find something rewarding, their brains are more
responsive.
MS. GALVAN referred to the image on slide 11, stating the
adolescent brain exhibited greater activation than the adult
brain when learning new information. She explained that, in this
experiment, the adolescent brain demonstrated a stronger
capacity to learn compared to the adult brain, a difference
attributed to differences in the neurotransmitter dopamine.
1:43:35 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 12, Dopamine in Adults. She explained
that dopamine is often associated with being a neurotransmitter
that is released when individuals experience something rewarding
or learn something new. In adults, dopamine is released in
response to such stimuli. She said the image on slide 12
illustrates this mechanism.
1:43:58 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 13, Dopamine in Adolescents. As the
image on slide 13 depicts, dopamine neurons are more numerous in
the adolescent brain compared to the adult brain. She said this
explains why adolescents tend to be more reward-seeking in their
behavior and more likely to take risks; they release more
dopamine than adults. She emphasized that dopamine does not only
drive risk-taking and reward-seeking behavior, but also plays a
critical role in helping adolescents learn from their
environment more quickly.
1:44:30 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 14, The Adolescent Brain is Primed to
Learn from Experience:
[Original punctuation provided.]
During a learning experiment, adolescents were better
than adults at learning associations
MS. GALVAN said the chart on this slide shows that, in an
experiment in which individuals were asked to learn new
information, adolescents outpaced adults in how well they
learned.
1:44:43 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 15, Experience Plays a Major Role in
Brain Development. The slide shows a flowchart depicting the
"conceptual representation of youth adversity exacerbation in
the juvenile justice system. The slide pointed out that:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Social structures and systems can support or challenge
positive development
Communities and cultural practices support development
Negative experiences including exposure to violence
and isolation impede healthy development
MS. GALVAN discussed how experience intersects with the
biological changes that occur during adolescence. She stated
that experience plays a major role in brain development. The
social structures with which adolescents engage can either
provide positive support or create challenges when conditions
are not optimal for meeting developmental needs and milestones.
She said research shows that negative experiences, such as
exposure to violence or isolation, can impede healthy
development. She referred to the flowchart schematic on the
slide, stating it illustrates how the burden of adversity can
build over time. In other words, adversity experienced earlier
in life can be amplified overtime during adolescence.
1:45:36 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 16, Supporting Youth after Early
Adversity:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Many of us have faced challenges or adversities early
in life and may need extra support
Our adolescent years present an opportunity to build
positive connections by supporting key developmental
needs
MS. GALVAN stated that supporting youth after early adversity is
critically important. She said many people experience adversity,
not only adolescents. She referenced an adult survey showing
that ninety percent of adults have faced adverse experiences
earlier in life, and about thirty-three percent of those
reported experiencing five or more. She acknowledged that many
adults might need support with past trauma and remedies should
not be limited to adolescents. She emphasized, however, that
adolescents may require additional support during maturation to
help them manage their experiences, meet developmental needs,
and ultimately contribute to their communities and thrive.
1:46:29 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 17, Developmental Needs During
Adolescence. She said scientists around the world have
identified the following seven experiences that support the
connecting brain and help adolescents thrive:
Exploring the world and testing out new ideas and experiences
Everyone learns through exploration, whether by trying new
subjects, pursuing different opportunities, or experimenting
with new directions. Adolescents require those same
opportunities.
Building decision-making and emotion-regulation skills
Adolescents need opportunities to build decision-making and
emotion-regulation skills. Individuals learn to make sound
decisions by being given the chance to practice those skills in
supportive environments.
Forming values, goals, and identity
Adolescents need opportunities to form values, goals, and
identities. They need opportunities to find meaning and purpose
through contribution.
Finding meaning and purpose through contribution
There is often a narrative that as young people become
adolescents, they start to care less about their community.
Contrary to this common belief, adolescents do not withdraw from
their communities. Research shows they are often more willing to
engage in causes they believe in and passions that get them
excited. In part, this is because the "social brain" becomes
more active during adolescence, enhancing their ability to
understand the perspective of others and motivate them to
contribute.
1:47:51 PM
MS. GALVAN continued the discussion of seven experiences that
support the connecting brain and help adolescents thrive.
Support from parents and other caring adults
Adolescents need continued support from parents and other caring
adults. Mentoring programs are particularly effective for youth
who may lack supportive parenting. Adults provide essential
scaffolding for young people, especially those who have
experienced early adversity.
Finding respect among peers and adults
Adolescents need respect from peers and adults. Because of the
maturation of the social brain, adolescents are highly
perceptive in recognizing when respect is genuine and when it is
not.
Sufficient sleep to support mental and physical wellbeing
Adolescents need sufficient sleep, a factor often overlooked in
discussions about adolescent development. She compared it to
infancy, when parents are vigilant about ensuring good sleep for
their baby's brain development. Sleep continues to be critical
in adolescence because it consolidates new memories, clears
unneeded information, and supports mental health, physical
health, learning, and emotion regulation, all essential
components for adolescents to thrive.
1:49:17 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 18, Confinement as Adversity:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Confinement can:
• Expose young people to stressful environments
• Limit protective factors like community, family, and
culture
• Restrict adolescents from filling key developmental
needs
MS. GALVAN stated that extensive research has been conducted on
juvenile incarceration and confinement. She said there is
growing interest in understanding how confinement itself may
constitute an adverse experience for young people and may run
counter to supporting their developmental needs. She explained
that confinement often exposes adolescents to stressful
environments while limiting key protective factors such as
community, family, and culture, which are essential for healthy
development.
MS. GALVAN said traditional confinement restricts adolescents
from meeting their core developmental needs, including
opportunities for exploration, receiving support from
caregivers, and the opportunity to contribute to others. She
emphasized that because the adolescent brain is highly plastic,
this period represents a window of opportunity during which
youth can be successfully redirected or rehabilitated, provided
their developmental needs are met.
1:50:13 PM
MS. GALVAN moved to slide 19, Aligning Justice Models with the
Rehabilitative Opportunity of Adolescence:
[Original punctuation provided.]
Adolescents have unique rehabilitative potential.
"Rehabilitative efforts that capitalize on youths'
existing strengths and incentivize learning through
rewards versus punishments are neurodevelopmentally
poised to succeed."
- Orendain, Galván, Smith, Barnert, Chung, 2022
MS. GALVAN stated that a central theme of this presentation was
to highlight scientific findings that demonstrate the potential
for rehabilitation during adolescence. She said some justice
models recognize that adolescence is a period of significant
brain plasticity and opportunity. She noted that some describe
this concept as "plasticity equals possibility," emphasizing the
adolescent brain retains the capacity to be redirected, even
after experiences of trauma or adversity. She explained that
rehabilitative efforts can utilize the ongoing development of
adolescent brains by offering new opportunities to meet
developmental needs that may not have been fulfilled earlier in
life.
1:51:18 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked what methods are used to identify
adolescents who have experienced early adversity in their lives.
MS. GALVAN replied that schools are often a good place for
identifying young people who are experiencing adversity. She
explained that adversity manifests differently for each
individual, but signs such as withdrawal or lack of engagement
are indicators. She said schools serve as the first line of
defense for what may be occurring at home.
1:52:17 PM
SENATOR MYERS asked about a debate that arises throughout a lot
of school districts, which is start times for high schools. He
requested she expand on adolescent sleep needs and how that
pertains to high school start times.
MS. GALVAN replied that high schools adopting later start times
have reported notable benefits, including a decline in car
accidents, which remain the leading cause of death among young
people, and an increase in SAT scores and grade point averages.
She said there is often concern that delaying the start of the
school day by thirty to sixty minutes will simply cause students
to go to bed later, negating the benefit. However, research has
shown that bedtimes do not shift significantly, resulting in an
overall increase in total sleep duration. She said the Seattle
School District has observed positive outcomes as a result of
implementing this a later start time.
1:53:47 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked her to comment on the shared experience of
the COVID pandemic and whether it affected social development.
He remarked that he had observed such impacts among his own
grandchildren and asked if this was an issue she encountered in
her research.
MS. GALVAN replied that extensive research has shown challenges
in social development following the pandemic. She noted that
many young people experienced significant isolation during that
period. She said social media played a helpful role in keeping
youth connected, though it could not replace the value of in-
person interaction. Speaking from her experience as Dean of
Undergraduate Students at UCLA, she added that faculty have
observed noticeable changes in the social development of college
students who were in high school during the pandemic.
1:54:51 PM
SENATOR STEVENS asked whether it is possible for children who
have experienced developmental delays to catch up.
MS. GALVAN replied, absolutely, noting this is one of the
remarkable features of brain plasticity. She explained that
while adults have a harder time recovering from adversity or
developmental delays, young people's brains are specifically
designed to adapt to a changing world.
1:55:43 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN remarked that the committee is considering
legislation to lower the age of consent for mental health
treatment. He explained that the proposal would allow youth aged
sixteen and seventeen to obtain a limited number of visits with
a mental health provider without parental consent. He observed
that this relates to adolescent development and asked for her
perspective on whether sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds should
have the ability to independently access a degree of mental
health treatment.
MS. GALVAN replied absolutely. She said no one understands their
own mental health better than oneself. She said youth at that
age are self-aware enough to recognize when they need support,
and if they are seeking help, it likely reflects their
understanding that their feelings or experiences are atypical.
She said one of the reasons she would endorse this type of
legislation is that the brain remains highly plastic during
adolescence and early intervention, whether for mental health,
learning, or other needs, leads to better outcomes.
CHAIR CLAMAN asked whether this approach aligns with the
research she has conducted, particularly the evidence that
addressing issues early supports stronger development and
quicker recovery.
MS. GALVAN replied that it does and cited her longitudinal
research on children with anxiety. She said the study followed
participants between the ages of nine and thirteen and found
that some children's anxiety improved while others worsened. The
strongest predictor of improvement was early access to
treatment. She stated that although those participants were
younger than adolescents, the findings reinforce the principle
that early intervention is the most effective approach to
redirect misguided or adverse behaviors.
1:58:03 PM
SENATOR KIEHL referred to slide 19 that discussed aligning
justice models, and asked whether there are key principles
within the most promising juvenile justice models that should be
considered legislatively. He wondered whether that field is well
developed or still emerging, and requested general guidance.
MS. GALVAN replied that she has a good friend and colleague at
the University of California-Irvine who studies this very
question, specifically recidivism among young people. She said
the research indicates that the number one predictor of future
outcomes is how an individual is treated within the juvenile
justice system, regardless of whether they received a formal
sentence or not. She explained that the data show individuals
who received less harsh sentences in the first year had
substantially lower recidivism rates compared to those who
received severe sentences. She noted that although variation
exists among individuals, the findings underscore the value of
more rehabilitative, less punitive approaches for young
offenders.
1:59:49 PM
SENATOR KIEHL said the findings from that research provides a
reasonable guidepost in terms of how long juveniles should be in
the justice system. He asked about models that address how youth
should spend their time while in the system.
MS. GALVAN asked him to clarify what aspect of their time.
SENATOR KIEHL explained that some young people spend significant
time in juvenile justice facilities. He asked about her research
and what promising trends or key principles lead to the best
outcomes once those youth are released and reintegrate into
society.
MS. GALVAN replied that strong community supports are critical
following release. She emphasized the importance of immediately
engaging with youth upon reentry, maintaining continuity with
family, and positive peer networks outside of incarceration. She
said research shows that the climate inside secure facilities
strongly correlates with the likelihood of reoffending. She
referenced a study, which found that youth with more positive
perceptions of their confinement, whether or not those
perceptions aligned with objective conditions, were less likely
to be rearrested, return to a secure facility, or self-report
reoffending. She reiterated that outcomes are influenced as much
by the support youth receive after release as by the environment
inside during incarceration.
2:01:49 PM
CHAIR CLAMAN stated that it sounds like one of the most
important areas of focus in juvenile justice appears to be the
reentry environment, the period immediately following release.
He said that is similar to adult reentry, but more critical for
juveniles to have available resources, and to invest in those
resources.
MS. GALVAN replied that this is critically important. She
explained that any transition into a new environment is a
significant change for young people, which is why considerable
effort is devoted to onboarding and community building when
students begin high school or college. The same is true, and
perhaps more so, for young people who have been incarcerated.
2:02:48 PM
SENATOR MYERS referenced her testimony that there were lower
reoffending rates among youth who reported more positive
experiences during confinement. He said her testimony seems to
conflict with conventional thinking, which typically assumes
that harsher correctional conditions give people a reason not to
go back. He asked whether this represents a misunderstanding in
the conventional approach or a difference between adolescents
and adults.
MS. GALVAN replied that it is interesting how data can challenge
assumptions. Findings suggest that when young people report more
positive experiences during confinement, it is likely because
their time was focused on preparation for the future. She
explained that those positive experiences might involve access
to skills training, education, and community-building that
support reintegration once they are released as opposed to an
incarceration-focused experience.
2:04:00 PM
SENATOR MYERS asked whether the difference she described is
unique to adolescents or if similar effects are also observed
among adults.
MS. GALVAN replied that she does not know that much about this
for adults. However, for adolescents, opportunities for skill
building, decision making, and peer connection appear to play a
critical role. She explained that these developmental factors
likely make adolescents more responsive to supportive, choice-
based environments than adults.
2:05:15 PM
There being no further business to come before the committees,
Chair Claman adjourned the Senate Judiciary Standing Committee
and the Senate Education Standing Committee meeting at 2:05 p.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| Adriana Galván Presentation on Supporting the Connecting Brain During Adolescene to the Senate Judiciary and Senate Education Committees 3.14.25.pdf |
SJUD 3/14/2025 1:30:00 PM |
|
| Adriana Galván - STEPS Fact Sheet 3.14.25.pdf |
SJUD 3/14/2025 1:30:00 PM |
|
| Adriana Galván - The Connecting Adolescent Brain 3.14.25.pdf |
SJUD 3/14/2025 1:30:00 PM |