Researchers can also use MRI to see how the brain is organized, in terms of how different parts of the brain are connected. Because the brain is changing so much in adolescence, its organization can be influenced by what we do, our experiences, and the environments we live in. The brain is a large network—different regions of the brain communicate with each other as a person performs different functions or behaviors, such as thinking about other people or moving around in the world. These brain communication patterns can be studied using a slightly different technique, called functional MRI (fMRI). This technique examines the amount of oxygen in the blood flowing throughout the brain as a measure of brain activity. When different regions of the brain show similar patterns of brain activity, they are said to be functionally connected.
Typical behaviors that we see during adolescence, such as thinking about other people and making decisions, have been seen to relate to certain patterns of brain activity between functionally connected regions in the brain. Not every adolescent has the same brain organization, and not every adolescent engages in typical adolescent behaviors.

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