Essay On Brain Pruning

Changes in the brain transform how people see the world and limits the abilities they can acquire. The first text, “Embarrassed? Blame Your Brain” by Jennifer Connor-Smith, examines the brain being affected by hormones that make teens more sensitive to embarrassment. On the contrary, the second article, “Use It or Lose It: A good brain pruning” by Laura K. Zimmermann, discusses brain pruning, the process that removes connections between neurons that are not used. This pruning occurs during early childhood and in later adolescence. The relationships between behavior and the brain in each text differ because the first article talks about how the brain affects embarrassment in teens, the second article talks about brain pruning, and they differ primarily in the benefits of each. First of all, the brain greatly affects embarrassment in teens by the imbalance between brain systems. The first article states, “Because of these brain changes, teens start reacting more strongly to social problems.” This shows the

The text by Laura K. Zimmermann states, “Overtime the connections between the neurons we use more frequently are kept and the others are pruned away, much like the pruning of a tree.” This explains the process of pruning and the relationship of the brain to behavior. The second article says that this process is necessary as it allows the brain to become more specialized so one is better at the skills one uses. This shows the helpfulness of pruning as it increases the development of frequently used skills. The article also says that the abilities one has as a newborn are pruned away so they can no longer be accessed. This displays the downside of pruning, it strips away abilities and connections that aren’t used. To summarize, the pruning of a brain has a system, the skills people use are kept, and the others are