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what's the difference between adult brains and teenagers brains ?
have you ever wondered why adolescents are characterized by
being impulsive decision makers?
Why are adolescents more prone to behavior that increases unintentional injuries
physical violence, gambling, alcohol
drug abuse, unintended pregnancy and *** indiscretion?
well, although you might think they're just in a rebellious stage
there is a biological reason for this, the prefrontal cortex is the area that is
linked with higher-order cognitive functions and emotional regulations
the prefrontal cortex has been known to be involved in cognitive processes
of conflict monitoring and response inhibition
that are pivotal for decision-making, in adults.
the reason adolescents tend to be impulsive
is because their prefrontal cortex is still not well developed
B.J. Casey a doctor and director of the Sackler Institute for Development said
that a decade ago you'd read articles suggesting that adolescents
engage in high-risk behavior because their prefrontal cortex,
a key brain area for judgment
and self control was not fully developed
but that area is even less developed in children
who don't engage in such behavior, does that mean
that the prefrontal cortex isn't the only brain structure involved in the
high-risk adolescents take?
Studies have shown
that the reward system reaches maturity by adolescence
and it is actually highly active during that period
as Casey put it, it's really banging away
while the prefrontal cortex is not quite fully developed.
So, what does it all mean?
"Lets get ready to rumble!"
[cheering]
It might just be the prefrontal cortex's executive
versus the limbic's reward system during adolescence
In other words, heightened responsiveness to rewards
and incentive, while impulse control is still
relatively immature, is a biologically possible explanation
of the neural mechanisms underlying high-risk behavior during adolescence.
This study might help understand all of this a little better.
Researchers used what they called the wheel of fortune,
to have adolescent participants choose the wheel they wished to play
a risk/reward game, the higher the risk
the higher the reward and vice versa.
Researchers studied the brains of the participants and saw which areas lighted up
when the adolescents decided to be riskier or when the adolescents decided to be safer
The study showed that the negative correlation
between high risk behavior
and prefrontal cortex activations, may in fact reflect a propensity
for impulsive decision, potentially mediated by relative
lack of orbital frontal cortex, mediated impulse control or response inhibition,
and anterior cingulate mediated complex monitoring resolution
so, why do some adolescents take high risk and others don't
remember, it is all about nature vs nurture
not everyone acts the same just because of their biology
environment also plays an important role
so is this bad ? the fact that adolescents
have really active reward systems paired with not fully developed prefrontal cortexes?
well, not necessarily, Casey also says that
adolescent brains having much greater sensitivity reward
is not always bad, even though that sensitivity
sf such that it seduces you to do the things you know you shouldn't do in the
heat of moment
that sensitivity also make the adolescent brain
vulnerable, dynamic, and highly responsive to positive feedback
Casey says that parents might want to consider rewarding good decisions by teens
rather than punishing bad ones
Jay Gredd National Institute of Mental Health says: "the teen brain isn't broken
and it's not a defective adult brain, it's been exquisitively force by evolution to
be different in children
and different than adults, but these differences
have served our species very well. The adolescent brain
has its pros and cons.
so next time you se a teen being impulsive
give them a break, is not them, is their pre-frontal cortex
and reward system.