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Know a moody teen who can argue with you endlessly? Changes in the teen brain may be egging them on. New research shows that when [|teens] and parents tackle touchy topics, the teen brain may affect how long and hard the teen argues. One particular area of the brain -- the amygdala, which is involved in fear and emotions -- stood out. In the study, 137 Australian adolescents aged 11 to 13 spent 20 minutes talking with their mom or dad about a source of conflict, such as lying or talking back to parents. copied from http://www.webmd.com/news/20080225/teen-brain-may-be-wired-for-moodiness

Citation: Hitti, Miranda. "Teen Brain May Be Wired for Moodiness: Brain Changes Might Make for Cranky Teen Behavior." __WebMD__. Feb. 25, 2008. WebMD. 16 May 2008 http://www.webmd.com/news/20080225/teen-brain-may-be-wired-for-moodiness. Summary: goes here

The **amygdalae** ([|Latin], also //corpus amygdaloideum//, singular **amygdala**, from [|Greek] αμυγδαλή, //amygdalē//, 'almond', 'tonsil')[|[1]] are almond-shaped groups of [|neurons] located deep within the [|medial temporal lobes] of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans.[|[2]] Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and [|memory] of [|emotional reactions], the amygdalae are considered part of the [|limbic system].[|[]

copied from:wikipedia.com summary:The amygdala is the emotional and memory that triggers your brain

The greatest changes to the parts of the brain that are responsible for impulse-control, judgement, decision-making, planning, organization and involved in other functions like emotion, occur in adolescence. This area of the brain (prefrontal cortex) does not reach full maturity until around age 25! copied from: http://teenagebrain.blogspot.com/

citation:Oickle, Rod. "The Teenage Brain." __http://teenagebrain.blogspot.com/__. 23 May 2008 <[|http://teenagebrain.blogspot.com/>.]

Reflection/Summary:__

May 18, 2007 -- How do child and teen brains work? An ambitious U.S. study is trying to find out -- and the first results already are in. The study enrolls only healthy children from birth to age 18. The kids undergo intensive neurological and psychological tests, as well as MRI brain imaging studies. None of the kids will be followed for more than four years. But because the study enrolls a diverse sample of kids, it is giving researchers an unprecedented look at how kids' brains and minds develop. The early results contain several surprises: Teens get mood swings quickly because of their brain changes. The brain fully developes at the age of 25 copied from:http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070518/study-probes-child-teen-brains
 * By age 11 or 12, a child's mental and motor skills approach adult levels.
 * Kids undergo rapid mental development from ages 6 to 10.
 * Mental development drops off sharply during the teen years, suggesting that teenage development shifts from acquiring new skills to integrating what already has been learned.
 * There were some differences between boys and girls but not as many as previously thought. There were no sex differences in verbal ability or math aptitude.

Summary:The teens brain motor skills develops by age 11 or 12.

Citation:DeNoon, Daniel J.. "Study Probes Child. Teen Brains." WebMD__. May 18 2008. WebMD. 23 May 2008 <[|http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20070518/study-probes-child-teen-brains>.__________]

The area of the [|brain] associated with [|higher-level thinking], empathy, and [|guilt] is underused by teenagers, reports a new study. When considering an action, the teenage medial prefrontal cortex, located in front of the brain, doesn't get as much action as [|adults]. "Thinking strategies change with age," said Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of the University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. "As you get older you use more or less the same brain network to make decisions about your actions as you did when you were a teenager, but the crucial difference is that the distribution of that brain activity shifts from the back of the brain (when you are a teenager) to the front (when you are an adult)." copied from: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14738243 Summary: Teenagers dont have as much guilt and empathy as adults do
 * If you ever sense teenagers are not taking your feelings into account, it's probably because they're just incapable of doing so.

Citation:Goudarzi, Sara. "Teenage Brain lacks empathy." Technology and science. sep. 08 2006. msnbc. 23 May 2008 <[|http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14738243>.__]**

Apparently brain scans have revealed microscopic abnormalities in a region of the brain that governs higher aspects of language and listening functions in adolescents who are heavy marijuana smokers. The researchers at the [|Albert Einstein College of Medicine] in New York, scanned the brains of 114 subjects, 26 of whom were selected because they were diagnosed schizophrenics, and of the schizophrenic group, 15 smoked marijuana. Another 15 subjects were nonschizophrenic adolescent male marijuana smokers who were matched against nonsmokers. It was those smokers whose scans showed abnormalities in the language and listening pathway. They say they found similar damage to the bundle of fibers, called the arcuate fasciculus, that connect the Broca's area in the left frontal lobe and the Wernicke's area in the left temporal lobe, in the brains of the marijuana smokers and the schizophrenics studied. Psychiatry professor Sanjiv Kumra says the findings suggest that in addition to interfering with normal brain development, heavy marijuana use in adolescents may also lead to an earlier onset of schizophrenia in individuals who are genetically predisposed to the disorder. The researchers say that the brain 's language pathway continues to develop during adolescence and is susceptible to neurotoxins introduced through marijuana use. A scanning technique called diffusion tensor imaging, that detects and measures the motion of water molecules in the brain, was used in the study; it is not used to diagnose schizophrenia. According to the [|National Institute] [|on] [| Drug Abuse], as many as 3 million Americans aged 12 and older use marijuana on a daily or almost daily basis. The researchers say longer-term studies are needed to determine if the brain abnormalities observed in adolescents were permanent or not. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the [|Radiological Society of North America].

Summary:


 * Citation:Goudarzi, Sara. "Teenage Brain lacks empathy." Technology and science. sep. 08 2006. msnbc. 23 May 2008 <[|http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14738243>.__]**


 * || Research Project **Special Edition****Tuesday, June 17, 2008** **Research Project**

I've been studying and resarching on the teenage brain on drugs but mostly the brain on marijuana. Your brain does'nt fully develop, well for most people their brain developes until the age of 25. When you smoke weed it slows your developement of your brain. People who start smoking at an early age have abnormalities in listening and learning later on in life. "Professor Sanjiv Kumra said heavey use of marijuana may lead to an earlier onset to the disorder of schizophrenia".(Goudarzi) The study shows that most teens start smoking cigarettes than that leads to early use of marijuana or other drugs. Study shows that teens think with their gut and adults think intellectualy because their brain is fully developed unlike teenagers. Teenagers make bad decisions because their prefrontal cortex is not matured yet. Your prefrontal cortex helps you make good judgment and decision making, which most teens don't have.(Oickle) Research shows that if heavy use and long enough use of marijuana, you lose memory and verbal ability to do this drug. Heavy use of THC leads to paranoia and delusions because your brain is to fried and your brain takes control of you. Many users develop pschyosis or in other words they begin to start going crazy because their brain is severly damaged. One out of a hundred people get diagnosed with mental disability, only if you start using it heavy and at an early age to use drugs. There are two types of memory behavior that is caused by marijuana which are recognition memory and free cells. When you lose your free cells is when, for example you read something before you smoke than after your under the influence you don't remember what you read. Recognition memory is when you don't have the ability to recognize correct words. When under the influence it is difficult to learn something because your short term memory does'nt function properly. When you smoke marijuana you have mixed emotions one minute you can't stop laughing the other you have paranoia the next. This has to do with the THC that triggers the limbic system which is the part of your brain that controls your behavior and emotions or also known as the "amygdala".(Hitti) All this can cause damage to your central nervous system which can damage your brain severly. From this research i learned what smoking weed can do to your brain and how bad it can injur it. Resources Goudarzi, Sara. "Teenage Brain lacks empathy." Technology and science. sep. 08 2006. msnbc. 23 May 2008 .__ Hitti, Miranda. "Teen Brain May Be Wired for Moodiness: Brain Changes Might Make for Cranky Teen Behavior." WebMD. Feb. 25, 2008. WebMD. 16 May 2008 Oickle, Rod. "The Teenage Brain." http://teenagebrain.blogspot.com/__. 23 May 2008 . || ||  ||
 * By JESUS HERNANDEZ -**||
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