Changes In Adolescents

The article “Dude, Where’s My Frontal Cortex?” by Robert Sapolsky talks about the delayed maturation of the frontal cortex in teenagers and how the underdeveloped frontal cortex is the cause of erratic behavior of teenagers. Sapolsky explains to the reader how the frontal cortex does not fully develop until the age of twenty for a person and how that part of the brain is important for extensive reasoning, impulse control, and emotional regulation. He shows the reader how particularly emotional situations affect both a teenager and an adult differently due to either having or not having a matured frontal cortex. This example that he uses allows for the reader to see how a teenager responds to situations with extreme thoughts and behavior which

The author of the article states that there is no better time than now to review how we are raising teenagers for many reasons. First and foremost there have been many strides taken recently to understand how the adolescent brain develops, strengthening ones understanding, and in turn, shedding light on errors made in the way adolescents are being raised in relation to their neuro-development. This means that because scientists have learned substantial information about the brain recently, it is important to reevaluate how parents are raising teenagers now more than ever. Second, according to the article it is a good time to review how we are raising teenagers because children are becoming adolescents earlier based on their physical maturation increasing faster each year, therefore it is important to examine why this is occurring. Finally, the author states that there is no better time to review how we are raising teenagers because of the recent discovery that the brain is malleable during adolescence due to neuroplasticity, meaning that the brain is able to be transformed during this time period solely based on the environment in which these individuals are exposed to, as per the article (Steinberg, 2014).

When one compares the structure of the adult brain and the teenage brain, there will be several differences between the two. Adults have stronger connections from one nerve cell to another, and they all have essential communication skills. However, teenagers have more synapses and have weaker nerve connections. Also, their frontal lobes aren 't fully developed. This causes adolescence to have impulsive behavior and they typically do not recognize consequences in a situation. In the early twenties the brain becomes fully developed, so people are very good at making decision and they are able to think abstractly. There are many factors that contribute to the construction of the brain; some things help the brain develop normally, other things interrupt the process. There is a substantial amount of distinctions between the adult brain and the adolescent brain, and these includes behavioral and structural differences.

The frontal lobe contains two key structures that have a great impact on mood, behavior and judgment. These structures are located in the outer area of the cerebrum towards the front of the skull (Carlson, 2013). This paper will discuss the function and structure of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (including the orbitofrontal cortex) and the Dorsolateral Cortex.

The young adolescent experienced profound changes in his behaviour in terms of aggression and agitation, nevertheless, he still maintained his cognitive abilities such as memorising and engaging in political knowledge. This study is also based on a real life case study, which are unique and cause some difficulties when making generalisations. However, this study supports the conclusions drawn by Anderson S.W, Damasio H, Traeel D and Damasio AR (2000) who found that prefrontal lesions in during early development can cause serious social problems, yet these individuals can have ordinary cognitive capabilities such as academic attainment and good

In this article the researchers wanted to see if there is a difference in outcome based on lower socioeconomic and poverty stricken adolescents where executive functioning was concerned. The brain during adolescents is continuing to mature by leaps and bounds; however, the pre frontal cortex is still not quite matured. This particular area of the brain is where self and impulse control and more complex thinking are being controlled. Many persons who are in between the ages of 16-21 are considered at risk adolescents according to Davis, Keer, and Robinson Kurpius (2003), due to challenges in where and how they are raised. As mentioned before, this research article suggested that poverty

The prefrontal cortex is the last part of the brain that is fully developed. Historically, scientists thought that brain growth and development ceased at age three. Current research indicates that the brain goes through extreme growth and development during the adolescent period. Only 80% of the brain is developed at this adolescent stage, and it is not fully developed until age 25-30

The human brain undergoes significant developmental changes through adolescence and into young adulthood (White, 2003). The most critical changes to the brain during this time occur in the frontal lobes (White, 2003). Specifically, these changes are seen in the prefrontal cortex (Steinberg, 2005). The prefrontal cortex is the control center for cognition and its

Since adolescent brain has the ability to change in response to the environment by modifying the communications networks that connect brain regions, those changes make them vulnerable to dangerous behaviors and mental disorders.

In 2010, doctors, Sara B. Johnson, Robert W. Blum, and Jay N. Giedd released an article in The Journal of Adolescent Health titled, “Adolescent Maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy,” roughly a decade after Collier’s article was published. One discovery pertained to the frontal lobes, essential to functions such as: planning, working memory, judgement, decision making, and impulse control, and how they are still developing up until a person’s mid-twenties (Blum, Giedd, Johnson). Blum, Giedd, and Johnson, are hesitant to support neuroscience imaging as a means to determine a legal age of accountability; however, they do admit the importance of furthering research in the field in

The human brain does not fully develop all of its areas until the age of 25. The last area to finalize this process is the frontal lobe.2 It is known that the area of the frontal lobe is mainly in charge of the rational thinking, impulse control, judgment, and risk prevention; which is why this is highly related to adulthood.2 Since this area is not fully grown yet, teenagers react with their amygdala instead of the frontal lobe.2 The amygdala is known as the emotional part of the brain.2 Therefore this effect of technology could be translated to an empty, fake and staged maturity caused by an overwhelming amount of information and peer

Understanding their illness, treatment, and situation completely is a huge part of being able to making a decision as substantial as their health. Adolescent capacity for intellectual reasoning is crucial in order to understand both the risks and benefits of a medical treatment. This is difficult for adolescents to achieve because of the lack of reasoning and maturity due to the brain not being fully developed at this stage. Evidence provided by scientist have discovered and identified that a specific region of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex, an area of the brain that controls reasoning, continues to change and develop until matured into adulthood (Harper Collins). The pre-frontal cortex affects understanding, and maturation. Scans of the brain show that adolescent brains function differently than those of adults when asked to solve problems, “Their actions are guided more by the emotional and reactive amygdala and less by the thoughtful, logical frontal cortex” (AACP). A brain that is not completely developed affects the capacity to make medical decision because it causes adolescents to lack judgement, reasoning, and the ability to completely understand the consequences of their

The brain is complex and amazing machine and needs time to develop. In the late 20th century when brain imaging technology became available researchers found that “our brains undergo a massive reorganization between our 12th and 25th years. ” This is what explains a teenagers and young people’s tendency to take more risks, the brain isn’t fully developed. When an experiment was conducted where you were supposed to stop yourself from looking at a suddenly appearing light, overriding your natural impulse, adults used the different parts of the brain to achieve the task and achieved it more often than teens. “Compared with adults, teens tended to make less use of brain regions that monitor performance, spot errors, plan, and stay focused—areas

The change starts around age 10 and can go through a child's mid 20s. The changes made are different for different people, but brains roughly develop the same way and time. Change can depend on a person's age, experience, and hormones. The remodeling and changing starts from the back of the brain to the front. During the remodeling gray matter, unused connections, are diminished and other connections are strengthened. The last thing that remodels is the PFC or prefrontal cortex, in or relating to the foremost part of the frontal lobe of the brain. Also during this period of change a teen relies on their amygdala, a roughly almond-shaped mass of gray matter inside each cerebral hemisphere,

However, a research article published in 2017 has a different perspective about adolescent decision-making. Instead of focusing on the brain ‘faulty’ wiring during this stage, this article focused on the positivity a teen’s risky choices. Entitled “Adaptive Adolescent Flexibility: Neurodevelopment of Decision-making and Learning in a Risky Context,” the authors found that when engaged in a task that tested risk taking behavior, older teenagers showed greater learning during the task compared to their younger counter parts (McCormick & Telzer, 2017).