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Structural Differences In Adulthood

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As we mature our brain undergoes tremendous changes and we learn to adapt to these changes at different stages in our lives. Our brains function very differently in our adolescent years in contrast to our adult years. In adulthood there is a more efficient use of the brain than in younger childhood. This is in part due to metacognition: the ability to understand one’s mental processes (Feldman, 266). Some major structural differences that occur are the increase in efficiency of the prefrontal cortex, the increase in the number of neurons, and the expansion of neural interconnections. The prefrontal cortex deals with intercommunication of the brain which effects how information is processed. Adults are able to process information more efficiently due to the growth of the prefrontal cortex. Another major difference is brain development is the areas of the brain that are used by different age groups. …show more content…

Young children often act from impulse due to the prefrontal cortex not being fully developed. An example of this is breaking the rules without considering the consequences. Adults often think through their actions and the possible outcomes of said actions, where children tend to act on their first thought. In teenage years decisions are often made from emotion (Giese, 2005). This type of thinking is often recognized in young girls who are in relationships. Young girls tend to make decisions based on boys or the emotions that they feel for boys. Young girls tend to find out what boys are interested in and gear their thoughts, actions, and personality towards fitting that

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The article “ Inside the Teen Brain” by Marty Wolner, states that recent resherchers on the human brain provides parents with shocking evidence abou there teenager that probably explains there irational, ilogical, and impulsive behavior. As it turns out, brain developement during the teenage years is radically more active than previously thought. Even though the brain is almost matured the grey matter in the thinking part of the brain is still making connections. The information proccesed in the limbic system, without benefit of higher level processing in the pre-frontal cortex may result in impulsive, egocentric,, and even risky behavior. Because of the construction of the teenage brain is that its not capable of fully processing information

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Teenagers act in irrational, impulsive and hazardous ways. This is due to their brains being underdeveloped and can’t form important connections, in fact a person's brain doesn't mature until their early 20’s. Teens also tend to put themselves at risk more than adults and misinterpret situations. Romeo and Juliet are an excellent example of the teen brain. Teens impulsive actions typically can be reckless for themselves and others.

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This source shows that the brain does not fully develop until the mid twenties, causing irrational decisions. It also shows how peer pressure plays a big part in teenagers decisions. It also states that teens tend to commit crimes in groups. It also states that if someone can’t make rational decisions, they should not be held to the law as a regular

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According to “What this means for the Adolescent Brain” Steinberg states, “The most important part of the brain to be pruned in adolescence is the prefrontal

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She says, “When we are young we have way more connections between our neurons than we need. These extra connections are there, ready to be used to build networks for the things we experience.” She tells us that we go through major pruning processes as we learn new skills that we need to re-inforce and as we don’t use connections that aren’t vital to our lives. Both Connor-Smith and Zimmerman tell us how the brain affects different age groups, but because they each explain a different

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At just 14, Young’s brain was certainly not fully developed. Teen brains lack proper decision making skills. The brain is far more irrational, reckless, emotional, and easily influenced than the adult brain. The article “Beautiful Brains”, further expands on this topic, going into depth about what it is exactly that causes juveniles to act this way. The article explains, “The brain undergoes extensive remodeling, resembling a network and a wiring upgrade.”

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` In the article Beautiful Brains by David Dobbs, evolutionary research conveys that during the adolescent and teenage years the brain encounters an astonishing amount of growth and transformation. Dobbs states that these developments contribute to many of the irresponsible decisions made by teens. In the past, the brain was thought to cease maturing around the age of ten, however, new investigations have found that between the ages of twelve and twenty five, the brain continues to develop, undergoing a considerable metamorphosis. During this metamorphosis, myelin insulates a greater number of neuron’s axons, increasing the speed in which messages are exchanged, dendrites branch out and become broader, accelerating the rate at which messages are received, and synaptic pruning occurs which causes the brain’s cortex to become slimmer and more adept. During teenage years, the brain is still learning to network as well as deal with day to day obstacles such as stress, exhaustion and problems.

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I know this because in the text it says, “The case of Phineas Gage suggests that we are human because our frontal lobes are set up so we can get along with other humans”(13). This shows that Phineas’s damaged his prefrontal cortex and sense his frontal lobe is damaged, it is harder for him to get along with other people. Adolescent limbic systems are already mature, but the prefrontal cortex is not mature yet. In the text it tells me, “The core idea is that, in young adolescents, the limbic system is already mature and particularly sensitive to the rewarding feeling that risk-taking sometimes elicits. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex—which stops us acting on impulse and inhibits risk-taking—is not yet mature”(7).

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There is hope for parents of teenagers that feel like their child is a lost cause. In a 2015 issue of Scientific American titled The Amazing Teen Brain, author Jay N. Giedd explains why the teenage brain is not “biology gone wrong”. With the help of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) the brain of people of different ages can be studied to provide more accurate information. One of those findings is that the adolescent brain does not mature by getting larger, that it matures by having its structures more interconnected and by becoming more specialized. MRI scans show that greater volumes of white matter indicate the increase in connectivity among brain regions.

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The author points out that “Brain imaging studies reveal that the regions of the adolescent brain responsible for controlling thoughts, actions and emotions are not fully developed.” Brain imaging studies have repeatedly shown that the brains in younger people are still developing well over the age of 18. Garinger states that

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While maturing, the brain encounters major growth and pruning, the brain’s way of removing damaged neurons for better pathways, all the way into adulthood.(2) A specific type of pruning that takes place is synaptic pruning.(2) Synaptic pruning mainly increases during teenage years and decreases during adolescence.(2) An outcome from synaptic pruning is more efficient brain functions.(2) The prefrontal cortex is also more developed at 25 than 18.(2) The prefrontal cortex is accountable for many

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The teenage brain is an extraordinary and unique brain as opposed to the brain of other ages groups. Teenager’s brain is more inclined to make unpredictable choices that are more likely to result in bad outcomes and are also more likely to be influenced by other people further leading them to make impulsive decisions. There are some advantages that occur as a result of such teenage brain, including their ability to always seek new experiences, they can stand up for what they believe in and can become passionate about it. The disadvantages of the teenage brain can be explained directly by their brain structure. The prefrontal cortex in the brain is responsible for decision making and judgment.

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This allows their social and problem solving skills to develop rapidly with time. However, children with AgCC may be ignorant to the social significances of their own behavior and naturally do not pick up on the social indications of others. They are unable to comprehend jokes or figures of speech, managing in its place to decipher communication plainly (Barnea-Goraly, 2005). They are also not as efficient as their friends in identifying emotion in people’s faces, and they are often awfully susceptible. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of agenesis of corpus callosum in performance of verbal working memory in children aged from 7 to 13 years of age.

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Memory plays a very crucial role, while archiving and understanding new information, for example when you are reading an intriguing novel, or maybe preparing for your final exams, and trying to remember information previously stored in your semantic memory, during your classes. Thus memory development should be a crucial and integral part of a child growing process. In order to practice the mechanism of memory development, it is very vital to recognize the type of memory a person may have, this is again dependent on the two hemispheres, dependent on which are the two memory development techniques. The left hemisphere of your brain controls the logical memory and the right hemisphere of your brain controls and manages the symbolic memory.

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Brief History Jean Piaget was a Twentieth century Swiss psychologist and was the first psychologist to systematically study the cognitive development of children. Thomas (2005) wrote that early in Piaget’s career he worked with children and his observations and interactions with the students led him to the theory that a young person's cognitive processes are inherently different from those of adults (pp. 188-9). According to Ahmad, et al. (2005) , Piaget showed that when compared to adults, young children think in differently and he then came to the conclusion that cognitive development was an ongoing process which occurred due to maturation and interaction with the environment (p. 72).

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