Teenage Mood Changes During The Teenage Brain

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.

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.

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

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

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.

When it comes to the teenage brain it’s obvious that they aren’t fully developed. According to Frances Jensen “a mother, author and neurologist” (83), a teenager is missing the frontal and prefrontal lobes of the brain in which adults possess. “The frontal lobes are the seat of what’s sometimes called the brains executive function and is responsible for planning, for self-awareness, and for judgement” (84). Being that a teenager lacks planning, self-awareness and judgement due to a missing brain function, they are subject to not thinking and being aware of circumstances in a difficult situation. For example, Kolbert states that her adolescent sons participate in a “fun pastime known as a ‘case race’” (83). A case race is when “participants form two

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

Based upon scientific findings, the adolescent brain is constantly growing and changing. The character Romeo, in Shakespeare’s famous play, displays how his adolescent brain is growing and changing. For instance, in the play, it states,”She is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, to merit bliss by making me more despair.” (1.1. 218-219) This quote reveals that Romeo is deeply in love with Rosaline but as his youthful brain changes he quickly falls in love with Juliet with little knowledge of her. Not to mention, in the article, Are teenage brains really different from adult brains, it conveys, “Teenagers experience a wealth of growth in synapses during adolescence” (Edmonds). This small excerpt informs us that the synapses that help us make reasonable decisions are at an increase. In the same source, another significant

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 Teenage Brain: A World of Their Own The third segment in this series focuses on the adolescent brain. During this phase in life, the prefrontal cortex is undergoing drastic growth. This makes a teenager more susceptible to various mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and addiction.

Answer: The teenage brain is still developing therefore we are more at risk of severe damage to our brain cells and we are more likely to have symptoms of depression, anxiety , mood issues and poor memory.

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

Tony Yang and others’ study, “Adolescents with Major Depression Demonstrate Increased Amygdala Activation,” is an influential study of developmental psychology because of the insight it brought into the relationship of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) or Dysthymia and the activation of the amygdala in adolescents. Major Depressive Disorder is defined as a two week interval of sad mood, loss of interest or pleasure in daily activities, weight loss/gain, appetite loss, feelings of worthlessness, guilt and concentration difficulties. As told in lecture on March 9th 2015, Dysthymia differs from MDD, it is when a person’s mood is regularly low and symptoms are not as severe. (Monk, Lecture 13, 2015). Yang et al. aimed to find a relationship between adolescents with depression and the activation of their amygdala. The researchers hypothesized that the amygdala would be active in both groups, but activation would be greater in the adolescents with MDD compared to the healthy controls (Yang et al. 2010).

When one compares the structure of the adult brain and the teenage brain, there will be several differences between the two. Adults have stronger connections from one nerve cell to another, and they all have essential communication skills. However, teenagers have more synapses and have weaker nerve connections. Also, their frontal lobes aren 't fully developed. This causes adolescence to have impulsive behavior and they typically do not recognize consequences in a situation. In the early twenties the brain becomes fully developed, so people are very good at making decision and they are able to think abstractly. There are many factors that contribute to the construction of the brain; some things help the brain develop normally, other things interrupt the process. There is a substantial amount of distinctions between the adult brain and the adolescent brain, and these includes behavioral and structural differences.

Adolescence is the distinct transitional stage between childhood and adulthood in human development, extending primarily over the teenage years and terminating legally when the age of majority is reached (Rathus, 2014). However in some instances, this biological, cognitive, social and emotional maturity may not be reached until a later stage and may be dictated by gender. Adolescence is characterised by rapidly changing and unpredictable behaviour (Freud, as cited in Rathus 2014), heightened and unstable emotions (Hall, as cited in Rathus 2014), disturbances in identity, the gradual development of one’s moral reasoning (Kohlberg, as cited in Rathus, 2014) and the gradual establishment of one’s independence. Several of these changes may occur at differing phases in adolescent growth. This development is categorized into three separate stages; early adolescence, middle adolescence, and late adolescence. Early Adolescence, commencing from the ages of eleven or twelve until the age of fourteen, comprises of several features such as rapid biological development and maturity, heightened stress levels and limited coping capabilities. On the other hand, middle adolescence, from the approximate age of fourteen to sixteen, involves the gradual cease of biological change, an increase in coping strategies and declined stress levels. Furthermore, late adolescence, commencing from the age of sixteen until the age of eighteen or nineteen, encompasses physical maturity, whereby the