Development of the Adolescent Brain and How it Affects Behavior
Throughout history teenagers have taken a lot of blame for their irrational, confusing and sometimes dangerous behavior. They take risks, seek thrills, act overly emotional and dramatic, and make decisions that seem irresponsible like dying their hair green or piercing their noses. Teens often get themselves into situations that adults believe could be easily avoided. In literature, movies and television teenagers are regularly portrayed as moody and misunderstood by adults. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the young teens make many bad decisions that lead to their deaths. What can explain typical adolescent behavior? It is easy to just call them stupid teenagers or to
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Jay N. Giedd, of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), stated in his article published in the June 2015 issue of Journal of Adolescent Health, “what most determines teen behavior, then, is not so much the late development of the pre-frontal cortex or the early onset of emotional behavior (limbic system) but a mismatch in the timing of the two developments” (Giedd 2015, p.37). Teens sometimes have trouble making level-headed decisions and get themselves into trouble because of what is going on inside their minds. Dr. Giedd also points out that “behaviors such as risk taking, sensation seeking, and turning away from parents and toward peers are not signs of cognitive or emotional problems. They are a natural result of brain development, a normal part of adolescents learning how to negotiate a complex world” (Giedd 2015, p.37).
In further support of this finding, professors Valerie F. Reyna & Frank V. Farley (2007) believe that taking risks is a normal part of adolescence because of the unfinished architecture of the teen
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However, all of the researchers agree that since few neuroscientists specialize in this age group more study is needed on adolescent brain development.
Understanding how the inner workings of the adolescent brain affects behavior can help both teens themselves as well as parents, teachers, and doctors dealing with teenagers who may be going through this sometimes difficult stage of life by how why adolescents make certain choices and that there is hope of ... (finish sentence here)