Melatonin, the hormone that produces drowsiness, is released later into teenage brains compared to those of younger children and adults, causing the average adolescent to be unable to fall asleep before 11 p.m., despite parental demands.

Scientists didn't understand either, until they got a good look inside the teenage brain - and what they saw turned what we thought we knew on its head.

When writing the episode "Responsible", Neal Baer stated that he referred to "an article about... how there's been leaps in terms of research about the effects of alcohol on teenage brains."

The program's images of unruly teenage brains galloping out of control may instigate apprehension.

A scientist who studies the teenage brain offers this: "With all the advances the best advice we can give is things that our grandmother could have told us generations ago, to spend loving, quality time with our children."

Are teenage brains really different from adult brains?

Professor Ian Hickie, Executive Director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney reviewed the evidence regarding alcohol and the teenage brain.

Neuro-scientist Sarah-Jayne Blakemore discusses dramatic changes in the teenage brain.

All three have come to the same conclusion, that alcohol damages the teenage brain and causes significant and lasting damage to critical thinking skills like memory recall and high-level thinking skills.

The good news is that the brain is remarkably plastic, she added, and future studies may show that the teenage brain, while more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol, is also more resilient.