The Teenage Brain At Work

The Teenage Brain at Work

Joseph Parish

According to Kendall Powell’s article entitled, Neurodevelopment: How does the teenage brain work, a young adult will find that they must exert an added effort to accomplish the same mental decisions as do adults. He states that although the final outcome would be equal to the amount of effort from the teenager, it is greater than that found within the adult. Naturally, his conclusions on this issue are that even though the teen may look and try to act as an adult, the actual thinking process is far short of their older competitors.

By studying the brain scans of teenage children, it is revealed that they make more use of the frontal brain regions when attempting self-discipline than would be expected. These types of experiments and the related research is slowly beginning to explain the erratic behavior which is often displayed by teens. These experiments are progressively explaining why the death rate in teens is greater than with children in their infancy. The studies show how teens take unnecessary risks, or ignore safe practices, thus ultimately having to pay the price. It is not surprising that the teen years have reverted into complicated times in respect to the child’s brain.

Internal brain changes are the blame for the strange and unpredictable actions often displayed by today’s youth. As responsible parents and adults, it is our task to reduce these hazards to the best of our abilities. Not only must we be involved in keeping them safe, but we should also be prepared for the vast array of mood swings which are likely to accompany youths of this age, such as possible addictions, potential periods of depression, and schizophrenic behavior.

Research further states how at the young age of twelve, the physical attributes of the brain are comparative to those of an adult, however, they are still a long way from being the equal of an adult. A neuroscientist Elizabeth Sowell, has stated that we should not make direct comparisons between the teen changes, which are occurring in their brain, and those involving their behavior patterns. I found it interesting that on one experiment conducted, the various brain regions were changed as a child grew older. After only 6 months, the researchers discovered significant changes in five brain areas as they noticed an increase in white matter. After reading Mr. Powell’s article, I can readily see how researchers are gathering data that explains the teen behavior. Most people would list the attitude of a teenager as rebellious, but according to the article it is a combination of brain development coupled with chemical hormones.

Brain nerve cells, or neurons have an enormous impact upon the actual development of the brain at all stages of growth. When combining the activities associated with these neurons, we see the dramatic influences upon the teenager’s moods, their learning ability, and their capacity to concentrate, their clarity in thinking, as well as their memory and social behavior. Nutrients play a major role in the development of the nervous tissue within the brain. In the event of dietary deficiencies involving polyunsaturated fatty acids, we can expect an adverse consequence on the brain and upon its development. Diets containing the appropriate minerals and vitamins are critical to the proper functioning of developing brains. A decrease in omega-3 DHA, will result in impairments involving the nerve cell generation, various disturbances in neurotransmitter metabolism, retarded learning, and reduced visual function. These same deficiencies of Omega-3 have been found to contribute to periods of depression, as dominant in alcoholism, and multiple sclerosis.

Several of the areas mentioned in the research deserve further explanation. Before going into detail here, we will explain gray and white matter. Gray matter represents a major component of the central nervous system; gray matter is composed of neural cell bodies, whereas the white matter contains mostly myelinated axon tracts. The difference in color can be contributed to the whiteness of the myelin. The gray matter actually shows a gray-brown tint, as a result of the neuron cell bodies, and the capillary blood vessels.

The brain gray matter, and its neuronal cell bodies control muscle movement, sensory perceptions, including our ability to see and hear, our memory and emotions as well as our ability to speak. The other components of our central nervous system are white matter, which as mentioned above is composed of myelinated axons. The goal of the myelin is to increase the speed of transmission for all of the nerve signals. In short, white matter serves as a messenger allowing messages to pass between various areas of the gray matter. Leaving the gray and white areas of the brain we encounter the nucleus accumbens, which is an accumulation of neurons located within the stratum. This section is believed to play a major part in responses relating to rewards, pleasure, aggression, laughter and fear. Early experiments with rats seem to indicate that this section of the brain is commonly referred to as the pleasure zone.

I believe that in general, most authorities agreed closely with the same concepts as stated above. The neurons are discussed in a similar tone, however, in the process they go into a deeper understanding of them. In the majority of respects, most text went much deeper than did the article from above. We must also take into consideration that the article was specifically about the teenage brain, while many books were concerned with facts in general.

I personally would not rate this article as a reliable source. First, the writer is exactly that, nothing more than a freelance science writer. That makes the article more of a news feature than an academic work. Something in particular, which I chanced upon in his document was that he was quoting people without referencing their articles. As an example, on the main page, we see a statement attributed to Abigail Baird, however, if we go down to review his references, we do not see this individual listed. In addition, I feel he is generalizing and assuming that these traits apply to all teenagers. I don’t feel that they apply evenly across the board for all teens.

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