The Neuroscience of High-Risk Behavior

Implications for Prevention

March 12, 2027, 10:00am - 12:00pm CDT
Virtual via Zoom
Fee: $10 full members; $25 partial members and nonmembers
Continuing Education Hours: 2.0

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Course Description

Dr. Crystal Collier's presentation "The Neuroscience of High-Risk Behavior: Implications for Prevention" provides an evidence-based examination of how alcohol, drugs, technology overuse, pornography, gambling, and other high-risk behaviors disrupt developing brain systems critical for executive functioning. She explains the neurobiological vulnerability window during adolescence when the limbic system (the "accelerator") develops before the prefrontal cortex (the "brakes"), creating a mismatch period that increases susceptibility to risky decision-making. Drawing from her research on 18 different high-risk behaviors detailed in The NeuroWhereAbouts Guide, Dr. Collier demonstrates how these behaviors don't just create immediate risks but actually arrest neurodevelopment and alter brain structure, leading to long-term deficits in skills like impulse control, emotion regulation, and judgment.

Learning Objectives: 

• Understand the neurodevelopmental timeline and vulnerability of the adolescent brain, including how the accelerator-brake mismatch between the limbic system and prefrontal cortex creates heightened risk for engaging in behaviors that can permanently alter brain structure and arrest executive function development.
• Identify how specific high-risk behaviors impact neurodevelopment, including the mechanisms by which substances (alcohol, marijuana, nicotine), technology overuse, pornography, gambling, and other risky behaviors hijack the dopamine system, spike reward pathways abnormally, and shut down frontal lobe development.
• Apply brain-based prevention strategies consistently across systems, including teaching youth the real neuroscience behind risky behaviors (not "fried egg" scare tactics), using brain-based language to reinforce executive functioning skills in everyday interactions, and implementing whole-system approaches that engage students, families, and school staff in consistent, age-appropriate prevention messaging.

Crystal Collier, PhD, LPC-S

Dr. Crystal Collier, PhD, LPC-S, is a nationally recognized therapist, researcher, and educator whose innovative, brain-based prevention work has earned multiple state and national awards. She is the creator of the Know Your Neuro prevention and skills-building program, a comprehensive neurodevelopmental model that teaches youth, parents, and educators about the brain and high-risk behaviors. Dr. Collier is the author of The NeuroWhereAbouts Guide, Your Moves Matter, and Know Your Neuro: Adventures of a Growing Brain which translates prevention science into practical tools for children, teens, parents, and clinicians.