Teen and young adult life is a strange mix of big decisions and unfinished brain wiring. Grades matter, friendships matter, social media seems to matter more than either, and all of it is happening while the brain is still under construction. It is not a great time to be guessing about brain health.
Brain Thrive by 25 with College Credits, created by Dr Daniel Amen and educator Dr Jesse Payne, is built for that tension. It takes core ideas from neuroscience and turns them into a 12 module online course for teens, college students, and schools. Students learn how their brains actually work, how daily choices help or hurt, and how to use that knowledge to make better decisions about substances, sleep, stress, and school, while also earning three undergraduate units through Corban University.
Contents
What Brain Thrive By 25 Is Trying To Solve
This program starts from a simple observation. Many young people reach their mid twenties with a diploma, but very little training in how to care for the organ that drives every test, relationship, and life choice, their brain. At the same time, they are surrounded by risks that hit the brain directly, like alcohol, drugs, vaping, sleep loss, and digital overload.
The Critical Window Before 25
Brain science shows that key parts of the brain, especially those involved in planning, impulse control, and long term thinking, keep developing into the mid twenties. That means this season is both a vulnerability and an opportunity. Repeated hits from substances and chronic stress can leave scars. Repeated healthy choices can build resilience.
Brain Thrive by 25 leans into this window. The course shows students that their brains are still active building projects, then gives them tools to protect that project instead of accidentally damaging it.
Why Add College Credit
The college credit piece is not just a marketing hook. For many students, knowing that a class counts toward a real degree changes how seriously they take it. Through Corban University, students who complete the Brain Thrive by 25 course can earn three transferable undergraduate units. That makes the program easier to fit into high school or college schedules, and it signals that the content is structured enough to meet academic standards.
How The Program Is Structured
Brain Thrive by 25 is presented as a fully online course with 12 modules, about five hours of video content, and a total of 44 short lessons. The design is closer to a modern online class than to a long lecture series.
Short, Focused Lessons
Each module is broken into bite sized segments that focus on a single idea or skill. Students might spend one lesson learning simple brain anatomy in everyday language, another learning how caffeine and energy drinks affect sleep, and another walking through real life scenarios about peer pressure around substances.
This format respects the reality of student attention spans. Lessons are short enough to fit into class periods or after school time, and they are easy to replay when teachers or parents want to revisit a topic.
Instructors With Both Clinical And Classroom Experience
The course is taught by two main instructors. Dr Daniel Amen brings decades of clinical work in psychiatry and brain imaging, and Dr Jesse Payne brings deep experience as a teacher, administrator, and curriculum designer. That pairing matters. The content is grounded in clinical brain health and also shaped by someone who has actually managed classrooms and knows what students will tune out.
Flexible For Schools, Families, And Individuals
Students can complete the program independently at home or as part of a structured course in schools and community programs. The 12 modules are designed so educators can plug them into health classes, psychology electives, advisory periods, or youth programs without having to rebuild the curriculum from scratch.
The Brain Based Framework Students Learn
Underneath the slides and videos is a straightforward framework. The message is not that the brain is mysterious and fragile. The message is that the brain is understandable and trainable, and that what you do regularly matters more than what you do once.
Basic Brain Anatomy In Plain Language
Early modules teach simple brain structure and function using images and metaphors. Students learn about the parts of the brain that help with focus, emotional control, memory, and decision making, and what happens when those areas work too hard or not hard enough.
This is not medical school level detail. The goal is for a teenager to be able to say, here is how my brain handles attention, here is what stress does to it, and here is why protecting it matters.
Daily Habits That Train The Brain
The program spends significant time on habits. Students hear the same message in different forms, your brain is an energy hungry organ that responds strongly to sleep, food, movement, and stress. Modules cover what a brain healthy diet looks like, why consistent sleep supports memory and mood, and how physical activity acts almost like natural medicine for the brain.
Instead of idealized routines, the course encourages realistic upgrades. That might mean shifting late night screen time earlier, choosing better snacks, or adding short walks during study breaks.
Understanding Risk From Substances And Screens
One of the clearest strengths of Brain Thrive by 25 is its direct conversation about risk. Rather than relying on scare tactics, the material explains how alcohol, nicotine, drugs, and digital addiction actually affect blood flow, brain development, and decision making.
Students see that repeated hits from these sources can reduce the brain’s capacity for good judgment at the exact time in life when they are making choices about school, relationships, and work. The point is not to lecture. The point is to give enough understanding that students can connect their daily choices to how their brain will feel and function at 25 and beyond.
Practical Skills And Tools Students Practice
In addition to information, the course trains specific skills that fit inside a broader social emotional learning framework.
Decision Making And Future Thinking
Students are encouraged to ask one simple question before big choices, is this good for my brain or bad for my brain. It sounds almost too simple, but when combined with what they have learned about substances, sleep, and stress, it becomes a practical filter.
The program uses case examples and activities to help students practice thinking a few steps ahead. What does this choice mean for my goals, my future mood, and my ability to pay attention. That kind of future thinking is a skill, not a personality trait, and it improves with guided practice.
Managing Stress, Emotions, And Relationships
Brain Thrive by 25 also touches core social emotional learning skills that line up with CASEL competencies, such as self awareness, self management, and relationship skills. Students learn how stress affects the brain, basic ways to calm their bodies, and how to notice early signs of emotional overload.
There is attention to peer influence as well. Lessons invite students to think about how friends and social media can push them toward or away from brain healthy choices, and how to set boundaries without cutting off connection completely.
Labs, Worksheets, And Real Life Experiments
To keep things practical, the course includes lab style activities, worksheets, and reflection exercises. Students might track their sleep for a week and compare it to mood and focus, log their screen time and energy levels, or run simple experiments with nutrition and movement.
These exercises turn abstract brain ideas into a personal data project. Young people see how their own brains respond, which is far more convincing than general advice.
Evidence That The Program Makes A Difference
A study of Brain Thrive by 25 in school settings used a pretest and posttest design with hundreds of students. The research found improvements in self esteem and depression scores, reductions in reported substance use, and better decision making measures in students who took the course compared with controls. It also showed positive alignment with social emotional learning frameworks in schools.
Like any study, there were limits, but the results suggest that a structured brain education program can do more than just share information. It can shift attitudes and behaviors in measurable ways.
Who Brain Thrive By 25 Tends To Help Most
Because the course is flexible, it can serve several groups.
- Teens and college students who want to understand their own brains and make smarter decisions about substances, sleep, and stress.
- Parents who would like a structured way to teach brain health principles without lecturing from scratch.
- Teachers and schools looking for a ready to use curriculum that combines neuroscience with social emotional learning and prevention goals.
- Youth leaders and community programs that need a framework for talking about mental health, decision making, and long term success.
Getting The Most From Brain Thrive By 25
For families and schools that choose to use this course, a few simple choices can make the material much more powerful.
- Talk about it together. Ask students what surprised them, what felt convincing, and what changes they are willing to test.
- Connect lessons to real decisions. When something like a party, late night study sprint, or sports season comes up, pull in the brain concepts instead of treating them as separate.
- Model brain healthy choices as adults. Teens notice what parents and teachers do more than what they say. When adults change sleep, food, or stress habits, it reinforces the message.
- Use the college credit option strategically. For motivated students, the three units through Corban University can be a strong incentive to complete the course with full attention.
- Revisit key modules. The material is designed for replay. Watching certain lessons again just before exams, sports seasons, or major transitions can refresh motivation.
Handled this way, Brain Thrive by 25 becomes more than an online class. It can act as a shared language for families, schools, and students who want to protect and strengthen developing brains during some of the most important years for long term mental health and success.
