On March 29th, I attended Dr. Frances Jensen’s, "The Teenage Brain,” talk. I found her work on brain development to be very interesting. I was shocked that literature about the teenage brain has mostly been written in scientific journals and only really been produced and available to the public in the last decade. Why has it taken this long? Teenagers are an important part of our society, as they are being groomed to “take over” as the older generation ages. That is why it is very important to understand their brains and how best to help them make the right decisions. Dr. Jensen discussed development and how the brain, the most complex organ in the body, is the last to mature and for most species (including humans) it connects from the back to front. Therefore, the prefrontal cortex is the last thing that “connects” and even then, the cells must become insulated to more quickly carry information. There are miles of connections in the brain and without this insulation, teenagers cannot make decisions as quickly as adults. As Dr. Jensen stated, teenagers physically look like adults, and are therefore expected to act like adults. However, their brain is not fully developed, …show more content…
These “night owls” are often up past 10:30 p.m. (especially college students!) and will sleep-in in the morning. We have learned in class that an appropriate amount of time to sleep for a teenager is nine hours and sleep deprivation is going to affect them. If they don’t get the necessary amount of sleep they need, being tired is going to cause teenagers to be unable to focus in class and do well on exams. However, it seems general school hours are run on “adult time,” although they are institutions used to educate teenagers. Would it be better to have school hours be during the “prime time” of teenager’s day? Resting during their “natural sleep” would allow them to wake up refreshed and would probably be more beneficial to their
Looking back, my friends and I sometimes discuss how dramatic we were in high school. It was as if the entire world was against us. Now, I actually know there is a biological link as to why teenagers feel that way. The documentary “Inside the Teenage Brain” mentions that teenager’s prefrontal cortex is going through an unexpected growth spurt and there is a thickening of gray matter. This part of the brain has a lot to do with thinking which can give us some insight as too what’s going on with teens.
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
In the article, “Startling Finds on Teenage Brains” (May 25, 2001), by Paul Thompson, the author argues that teenagers should not be legally treated as adults because their brains are not fully developed. First Thompson raises a question whether teenagers should be tried as adults after the trial of fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Brazill who is charged with second-degree murder for the shooting of his middle school teacher. Following up the numerous questions from reporters and teen advocates, Thompson informs the audience about the loss brain tissue in teenage brains and its correlation to the teenagers’ violent tendencies. After elaborating that teenagers need the correct guidance to steer their development onto the right path, he concludes
The article “Inside the Teen Brain’ by Marty Wolner, states that the human brain provides parents with shocking new evidence to possibly explain the sometimes irrational, illogical, and impulsive behavior of teenagers. Teenage years are radically more active and dynamic than they previously thought. So teenagers are left with most of the information reaching their brains being processed in the emotional part (limbic system). Information processed in the limbic system without benefit increases the processing in the prefrontal cortex. It may result in impulsive, egocentric, and maybe even risky behavior choices. The prefrontal cortex of the teenage brain does not excuse inappropriate or irresponsible behavior from the teen. The brain is not yet
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.
In the feature article "The terrible Teens”, the author, Elizabeth Kolbert, explains her opinion about adolescents’ brains to be under development, leading them to be more slow-witted than adults. In order to prove this point, many experiments have been conducted; a team of researchers at Temple University gathered eighty-six mice and placed them in Plexiglas cages, either singly or in groups of three. They collected the results, which showed that, half of the test mice, which were four weeks old,qualifying them as adolescents, out drink their elders,which were the other half consisting of twelve-week-old adults. This experiment can be related to human adolescents behavior in such a way that teenagers are more eager to engage themselves in
After viewing the Frontline program titled Inside the Teenage Brain I learned a significant discovery scientists have found about the teenager's brain. I also learned that just as there is a growth spurt in infants’ brain, there is a second-growth spurt during puberty. In addition, I also learned how teen's emotions are so different from adults' emotions. I was very surprised with everything I learned about the teen's brain, but my point of view about teen violence and juvenile delinquency hasn't changed.
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
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.
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).
The article under review in this paper is 'Neurodevelopment: How does the teen brain work?' by Kendall Powell (2006). this article appears to be credible based on the following: although the author is a freelance science writer, his work lead one to believe he knows what he is talking about. In addition, he provides several supportive resources to back up his topics. He has several other articles and writings available on the internet. However, while no educational background is available, he writing experience extends to PLoS, HHMI Bulletins, and the Los Angeles Times to name a few. Powell is associated with Nature Publishing Group (NPG), who publishes scholarly articles for academic and daily life audiences. This particular article was
To begin with, the human brain does not fully complete development until the end of one’s 20’s. The process it quite slow for humans, with “The frontal lobe reaching full maturity around the late 20’s” (Blumenthal). All adolescents
A number of researchers have suggested over years that teenage brains are not yet fully developed. At the National Institute of Mental Health researchers have studied the human brain ever since the stage of birth all the way to adulthood, to prove that the brain is not complete. When it comes to this topic, Americans assume that if a teenage commits a crime than they should not be held accountable because of their age. Yet they must consider that teens are capable of understanding the situation they are in, how they are looked upon as young adults,, and how they should learn from their mistakes.
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
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