Part 6/11:
To better understand how these capacities develop, Immordino-Yang conducted a five-year longitudinal study involving 65 adolescents from diverse backgrounds, primarily from low socioeconomic, high-crime neighborhoods. The study involved showing participants documentaries about teenagers from around the world and prompting them to reflect on how these stories made them feel.
Participants then underwent brain imaging (MRI scans), and their development was tracked over time, with follow-ups into late adolescence and early adulthood. The findings were striking: the way adolescents engaged in transcendent, meaning-making thinking predicted physical growth in certain brain pathways—specifically, white matter fiber tracts.