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Brain development in adolescence
Brain development in adolescence
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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
Inventing Ourselves; The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain by Sarah-Jayne Blakemore 1 chose this book because I have an interest in the brain and neurology, something I've been considering as a future career. The brain is something that is so complex and the teenage brain is even more. The adolescent brain goes through so many changes that I and my classmate have all felt not so long ago and the fact that I had the chance to read about it in a book that is very easy to understand and an author who doesn't want to demonize teens as they go through this developmental process. As previously stated this book talks about the development of the adolescent brain. Some major talking points Blakemore goes over are, the brain structure, societal pressure on teens and how it affects their development, why adolescents make the choices they do, and
The article “Inside the Teen Brain” by Marty Wolner, states that brain researchers can scan teen’s brain to observe impulsive and egocentric decisions which may sometimes lead to risky behavior. Brain development is more active and dynamic in the teens. Information processed in the limbic system, may result in impulsive, egocentric, and risky behavior. For teenagers this time of their life can be creative and emotional roller coaster ride with thrills and chills, but nerve wracking and terrifying for parents. A teenager can learn to be less impulsive and egocentric and make better decisions by the help of parents.
During adolescence the regions of the brain such as the frontal cortex and cerebellum are still developing. Dr. Gied, from Inside the Teenage Brain did a study on children in two year intervals taking images of the brain through fMRI imaging. These images showed that a second wave of grey matter, the thinking part of the brain continues to thicken until the child reaches their mid twenties. He explained that the brain continues to form synaptic connections and prune back what isn’t used or needed. During this time parts of the brain that deal with planning, strategies and consequences aren’t quite yet fully developed.
Teens today are fighting a losing battle against stress. Schools pressure teens into competing in tests and even when applying to colleges. According to Noelle Leonard, PhD, a senior research scientist at the New York University college of Nursing "School, homework, extracurricular activities, sleep, repeat—that's what it can be for some of these students." Pressure from parents who expect too much, struggling with school work, applying to colleges, and participating in extracurricular activities all contribute to a teenager’s stress level. More than 27% of teens during the school year claim that they deal with “extreme stress” (Jayson Sharon, USA Today) that can affect everyday living for them, along with a majority of other stressors.
Hormones which are chemical messengers have a greater impact on teens rather than adults due to puberty occurring at this time. However, there are those who believe that hormones have no effect on the decisions made by juveniles. The reason
Teenagers will act a certain way around people depending on how others think of them. They will do or say
Q1.3 Explain the impact of adolescent development on a young person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours A1.3 Adolescence is a time of great change for young people when physical changes are happening at an accelerated rate. Puberty is accompanied by physical, psychological and emotional changes adapted to ensure reproductive and parenting success. But adolescence is not just marked by physical changes – young people are also experiencing cognitive, social/emotional and interpersonal changes as well. It marks a transition in risks for depression and other common mental disorders, substance abuse, eating disorders and anti social behaviours. As they grow and develop young people are influenced by outside factors, such as their environment, culture, religion, school and the media.
1.3 Explain the impact of adolescent development on a young persons thoughts, feelings and behaviours. During puberty the body will go through many changes and a young person will start to become more aware of their body and their personal appearance. As they go through these changes a young person will also try to find their identity but still want to fit in with their peers which may have an influence on their likes and dislikes. They will also become more sensitive to their feelings being highly emotional/upset or easily frustrated over minor issues. These emotional changes also cause mood swings resulting in young people becoming irritable or moody at times and not wanting to converse, this is also due to the hormonal changes
As you know teenagers are humans, feelings affect most the teenagers. Negative feeling like anger and anxiety cause a chain of action. Sufferers experience the aggressive bullying. As a result, they commit crimes. Some music styles like pop, rap and blues bring harmful effects to the teenagers.
Drugs such as alcohol have an effect on all users, regardless of their age; however, alcohol has an especially harmful effect on teens since their bodies are still developing. Studies have shown that alcohol has numerous negative effects on a teen’s body and mental health; for example, a study conducted by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention stated that “alcohol consumption affects the brain’s frontal lobes, which is essential for functions such as emotional regulations, planning, and organization” (“Age”). Teens already have high emotions and difficulties planning and organizing; alcohol will only enhance teens’ struggle. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention also found that alcohol consumption at a young age can potentially cause chronic problems such as memory loss, depression, suicidal thoughts, and poor decision making (“Age”). Teens have a difficult enough time making decisions and organizing their lives, but adding alcohol to the mix will only make matters worse; their bodies are still developing, and they are still learning to be adults.
The crucial new idea is that there are two different neural and psychological systems that interact to turn children into adults. Over the past two centuries, and even more over the past generation, the developmental timing of these two systems has changed. That, in turn, has profoundly changed adolescence and produced new kinds of adolescent woe. The big question for anyone who deals with young people today is how we can go about bringing these cogs of the teenage mind into sync once again. The first of these systems has to do with emotion and motivation.
Teenagers are very different in personalities some teenagers like to get in trouble and some don’t think of what will happen next in their everyday lifestyle. Their was this book that i have read and it was about teenagers doing drugs and drinking and they were making careless mistakes and some of the teenagers will not do any of those things because they think of the consequences. Also some teenager will do a lot of things like not driving right making wrong turns and other things but they get over it and pick up from the beginning. Some people believe that teenagers are careless and don’t think about their consequences. Teenagers are careless in public and in school because they are in front of other people and try to do bad things and show off.
Teens Get Stressed Too Adults often believe that teens do not have much to be stressed about. Teenagers do indeed have a lot on their plate. Dealing with school, a job, school work, working towards getting their permit/license, sports, even things at home, teenagers tend to be extremely stressed. A majority of teenagers suffer from anxiety and depression from all of the pressure put on them.
During this time, teenage brains actually lose important matter in certain regions of the brain. A statistic referring to the teenage years, from a Sacramento Bee article titled “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” stated that, “Gray matter, which brain researchers believe supports all our thinking and emotions is purged at a rate of 1 percent to 2 percent a year during this period” (Thompson 89). Essentially, this is proof that teenager’s decision making isn’t under their full control and can cause them to act out. There are also some regions of the teenage brain that are more developed than others and this actually turns out to be a bad thing. In a New York Times article Richard Freidman explains that, “Adolescents have a brain that is wired with an enhanced capacity for fear and anxiety, but is relatively underdeveloped when it comes to calm reasoning” (1).