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Summary Of The Teenage Brain By Frances E. Jensen

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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

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