Nikola Tesla was probably a genius. Even as a youngster he was clever and inventive. He may well have been rather different to modern teenagers, but that does not mean that there is not connection. Tesla was awarded more than 100 patents and is credited with the invention of the first automobile speedometer, fluorescent lighting, alternating current (AC), the radio, the first remote controlled toy (a boat) and wireless electricity (I can’t wait for that to become a household reality – real wireless living). He also invented the rotating magnetic field. This is a magnetic field which changes direction at a constant angular rate.

A rotating magnetic field makes it possible to maintain a homogeneous magnet field. It is based on such a field that MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines operate, but it needs to be a really, really strong magnetic field.

This sort of magnetic field is produced and maintained by a superconducting magnet, made up of lots and lots of coiled wire, through which an electric current is passed.

What's all this got to with teenagers? Fair question, keep reading.

Now, there is a lot of water in the human body, which means there is a lot of hydrogen in the (H2O). These hydrogen atoms each have a nucleus with one proton. In the body (and almost everywhere else) these protons are randomly spinning, or precessing, on their axes in all different directions. When placed in a magnetic field, the protons line up in the direction of the field.

The MRI machine then produces a radio frequency (RF) pulse that oscillates at the same frequency as the precessing hydrogen protons. The RF pulse forces the protons to spin at a particular frequency, in a particular direction.

When the RF pulse is turned off, the hydrogen protons return to their previous alignment and release the energy absorbed from the RF pulses. This energy is detected by the MRI, which is analysed by a computer to produce an image.

Researchers in Prof. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore’s lab at University College London used MRI to compare teenager’s brains to adult brains. The Blakemore Lab researchers looked at how well teenagers and adults could do a simple task, while being actively distracted.

The task involved classifying letters of the alphabet according to whether they were made of straight lines or curved lines. Sometimes the teenagers and adults were shown the letters, and other times they had to imagine the letters.

They found that when the adults and teenagers had to imagine the letters, the adults completed the task faster than the teenagers. They also discovered that as people got older they took longer to complete the tasks but they were more accurate.

While this was going on, the researches also used MRI scans to create images of the brains involved.

They found some minor differences in the structures of teenage and adult brains, and also noticed that teenagers and adults used slightly different areas of their brains when they were completing the tasks.

When they combined all the data they collected, they found that as our brains develop they learn new ways to avoid distractions and imagine objects. This process happens during our teenage years.

So it seems that through the mind of Tesla, we have been able to peer inside the head of everyone else, to watch their brains develop. This goes some way to explaining teenage behaviour too, and if you want to escape a teenager, try showing them something shiny and slipping away while they’re not looking.

This research inspired Great Big Science Gig to write this song.