The ability to form healthy social bonds and successfully predict the behavior of others is rooted in specific neurochemical systems and neural circuits that develop during adolescence.

“But in terms of the biology, it's clear that there's this stage of development where more autonomy, more physical capability is triggered by these hormone changes in the brain and these peptide changes in the brain and body.”

The brain constructs an idealized version of a partner using a shared neural network that handles both memory and imagination.

“When you imagine who someone could be, your brain is literally constructing that person using fragments of memory, hope, and imagination. It's a fabrication that feels like perception.”