The Brain Shapes “What's the Matter with Kids Today”

[HuckleB]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=27566

"There are plenty of explanations for teenage turmoil. The newest theory is that uneven brain development may be responsible for the changeable moods and unsettling behavior of adolescence, reports the July issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter.

Although many teens have fairly advanced intellectual and reasoning ability, recent research has shown that human brain circuitry is not mature until the early 20s. Among the last connections to be fully established are the links between the prefrontal cortex - the seat of judgment and problem-solving - and the emotional centers of the brain. These links are crucial to emotional learning and high-level self-regulation, explains the Harvard Mental Health Letter.

Another circuit still under construction in adolescence links the prefrontal cortex to the midbrain reward system, where addictive drugs and romantic love exert their powers. Brain scans hint at why most addictions get their start in adolescence. Teenagers and adults process reward stimuli differently; adolescent brains react intensely to novel experiences, making those experiences more enticing.

Hormonal changes are at work, too. The adolescent brain pours out stress hormones, sex hormones, and growth hormone, which in turn influence brain development.

..."


Hmm. Should parents show this to their kids? Or does normal development require teenagers to think they're smarter than everyone else?

;)

[atommom]

1. I doubt their prefrontal cortexes (cortices?) are ready to hear that yet!

;) I find this research fascinating, but it doesn't make me dread my children's teenage years any less...

[lynettebro440]

2. I passed the teenage years

And now my children are in their early 20's. You want my personal opinion on what is going wrong here (probably not but I'm going to give it anyways) it's the parents. When kids get to their teenage years they are difficult, but parents give up to easy. You have to keep it simple, honest and straightforward and get them ready for when they are adults at 18. This group of parents coddle the hell out of their kids in fear of them being hurt. Hey folks, they better know it by the time they reach 18 because they are going to need it bad in these days. Stop giving them everything and making it so easy. You will end up with a better adult even though the kid may hate you while they are in their teens. But who cares, they will respect you later on.

[Igel]

3. Yes, and for that reason parents have to make sure they

monitor what their teenagers are doing, and impose limits and rules.

I know my kid, < 2 yrs old, has less common sense than most varieties of gravel. I keep him out of trouble; I watch what he's doing; if he gets hurt, it's my fault, not his. People accept this.

Teenagers are usually intelligent, sometimes smart, seldom wise. Parents, and to some extent society, get to provide the necessary wisdom. The problem is they're partially adult, so we want to assume they're adult; and they want to claim they're adult, so we humor them.