The book The Teenage Brain is written by a neuroscientist named Frances E. Jensen (MD) who doubles a single mother to two boys. Being both a mother and brain expert, her curiosity while raising her sons led her to look further into the growth and development of adolescent brains. Why are teens (in most cases) more emotional than adults? How does the brain physically change between the ages 12 and 25? What are external factors that aid or stunt brain development? Are there certain actions parents can take to insure that their child becomes a successful adult? Over the course of several years, Jensen’s research resulted in this book; a tool for educating both parents and teens about what’s really going on in the minds of teenagers, and what …show more content…
60 of over 400 identified chemicals found in cannabis are called cannabinoids, including THC; the cause of the high. The cannabinoids attack natural cannabinoid receptors in the brain, causing lack of coordination, hyperawareness of sound, visual and audio distortions, lack of sense of time, and more. The overload of sensory regions disrupts the development of neural pathways. Teen brains are still trying to make connections and wire itself together, and this interference of normal brain function damages the hippocampus, amygdala, cerebellum, and other major parts of the brain. The list of possible effects of substance abuse is long and still growing; damage to behavioral function, attention deficit, depression, emotional damage, memory problems, lack of motor skills, poor visual/ spacial awareness, reduction of goal-directed behavior, hyperactive disorder, lower IQ, and …show more content…
While the process of achieving a ‘well-functioning’ brain is rather difficult, it’s something everyone goes to on their way to becoming an adult. During teen years, science proves that our brains are more vulnerable, sensitive, and at risk than other period of life. Our body changes, our brain changes, and it can be hard to make sense of stressors and unexplored experiences thrown out way. The Teenage Brain left me with a few questions; are medications for depression and/or stress disorders targeted towards helping THP regulate stress? Do the brains of those who leave home for school/to study/ to travel experience physical changes to the brain because of all the new exposure? Do things like caffeine and unhealthy eating affect the brain in similar ways to substances like alcohol? And if so, how, or why not? Overall, I was most interested in the differences between adolescent brains and those of developed adults, and how teens are inhibited by chemicals and reactions within their own bodies. Jenson did an amazing job at explaining not what happens in the brain, but why, and how parents and teens alike can use this information to help development of young brains in the
The first article that was discussed in class was Startling Finds on Teenage Brains (Paul Thompson) this article has strong ethos. Thompson belives that the teeneagers that have commited crime, for example on May 16 fourteen year old Brazil was charged in May because he shot a middle school teacher. Brazil was found guilty of second-degree murder. Thompson claims that the teenage brain isn't fully developed at a young age, because of this many teens are making reckless choices. The author Paul Thompson claims “my own research group at the university of California, Los Angeles, and our colleagues at the national institutes of health have developed technology to map the patterns of brain growth in individual children and teenagers. With repeated
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
David Dobbs in the Article “Beautiful Brains” proves the theme that it takes teenage brains longer to mature due to the recent change in impulsivity and adolescent behaviors.
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).
On this article talks about how a study found the massive lack of tissues that occurs as we grow up. Thompson explains the develop of the brain and how it damages the teenager, which at some points it can affect the decision and growth of the youth. The reason why I will use this article is because it explains how psychology and mentally the teenager does things without them knowing why.
Researchers can look at the brain of a teen to examine their behavioral decisions.Teenage brains these years are more active and dynamic which means it’s still developing.Processing in the Limbic system is a result of risky behavior.The construction of a teenage thinking brain is not cable of fully processing necessary to make responsible decisions.At this stage the brain is still developing.The brain changes depending on interactions, helpimg the teen make changes. At this time the brain will need focused and support for a healthy connection.Surrounding impacts the child faces such as challenging situations is an effective technique.Parents need to consider the teens emotional
List and describe the three most important structural changes in the brain during adolescence and how they change
This essay is going to list and compare adult and adolescent behaviour, characteristics and try to analyse how certain adolescent characteristics change into adulthood. It will look at what characteristics change and what don’t, look up the information to do with the question and rewrite the information without changing the meaning and make sure it will have the source links at the bottom of the essay. It will show images of the brain at different ages. It will show; development of the brain, consequences of adolescence for example drink driving, what is fMRI, sMRI, PET and EEG.
The teenage brain is still under construction and there are many things that distinguish it from the adult brain. There are physical factors that make the two in comparison so different. Also the behavior and the way teens and adults interact and think, makes their brains vary. In addition, there are some things that contribute either positively or negatively to the development to the teen brain, and it
The article “Inside the Teenage Brain” by Marty Wolner states that recently, brain researchers have been able to do a great quantity of detailed studies on the human brain. Despite previous thoughts about the teenage brain, development of the brain through the teenage years is very dynamic. The teenage brain is still learning how to process certain information properly in the thinking part of the brain, so often teens may not process all the information necessary to make responsible decisions. Nevertheless, the teenage years can be very stressful for both parents and for teens. Getting through the teenage years can be difficult, but with the right amount of healthy communication, discipline and support the road ahead won’t be so rough. At this
As a teen, the human brain is not yet fully developed. One’s cognitive ability falls short to the ability of an adult brain, which has had more time and is fully developed. In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains”, research given during a televised conference at the White House shows that teens impulsive and erratic behavior can be linked to the massive loss of brain tissue that occurs during the teen years. With teen brains not being fully developed, and the research explaining and linking their behavior to their brains, I believe
Teens are wild, mad, insane, and occasionally deranged. We’ve all seen it, and if it wasn’t obvious enough then read “The Terrible Teens” by Elizabeth Kolbert. In her essay, she uses various rhetorical devices such as, metaphors, and climatic word order to keep her writing intriguing. She even keeps the essay credible by showing personal examples of her own teens. Throughout Kolbert’s essay, she effectively uses rhetorical devices, and methods of development to help establish the idea that neurology helps to explain teenagers wild behaviour.
“Beautiful Brains” Summary Critics argue that a teenagers’ reckless decisions are negative in today’s society, however, other individuals believe that a teenagers’ way of thinking will be significant to help their brains develop in the future. In discussions of the article “Beautiful Brains” by David Dobbs, the author introduces different views about a teenagers’ brain. He believes that the flexibility of a teenagers’ brain is a valued trait.
In both articles “What's, going on in your brain” and “Are teenage brains really different from adult brains?”, they might both sound different and give different examples in their articles. Both articles give the same advice and information about the teen brain and sometimes different information. For Example both text talks about the prefrontal cortex their explanation for what it is is similar. Article “What's, going on in your brain” explains that “a teen’s prefrontal cortex---the brain’s smart part-- is out of sync with limbic growth. That’s why you may do things that you know aren't really good for you (such as coming home past curfew or eating a whole bag of potato chips all at once) while feeling that you just couldn’t help doing it.”
During the teenage years is when the human brain goes through the most drastic changes, both at the cellular level and at the emotional level. Teenage brains go through the most emotional distress because their frontal cortex is not fully developed. According to dr. Charles Nelson who was interviewed for the film; Inside The Teenage Brain and said, “...and because the child - the 13 or 14 or 15-year-old - still has an immature frontal cortex, they often do not make the most responsible, reasoned decisions.” This is one plausible explanation to most teenage attitude. Dr. Nelson also referred to mood swings, “But we think the ultimate responsibility for regulating these mood changes resides in the frontal cortex, and that's what's overseeing