Marisol+Molina

The Teenage Brain


 * In Progress**

According to new studies, the pre-frontal cortex usually does not reach a level of genuine maturity until someone reaches their mid-twenties! "It's sort of unfair to expect [teens] to have adult levels of organizational skills or decision-making before their brains are finished being built," copied from http://www.medinstitute.org/content.php?name=teenbraindevelopment

In this paragraph it shows that the brain doesnt fully develop until your mid twenties.


 * Teen Behaviors**

When examining the adolescent brain we find mystery, complexity, frustration, and inspiration. As the brain begins teeming with hormones, the prefrontal cortex, the center of reasoning and impulse control, is still a work in progress. For the first time, scientists can offer an explanation for what parents already know -- adolescence is a time of roiling emotions, and poor judgment. Why do teenagers have distinct needs and behaviors? Why, for example, do high school students have such a hard time waking up in the morning? Scientists have just begun to answer questions about the purpose of sleep as it relates to the sleep patterns of teenagers. copied from [|http://www.pbs.org/wnet/brain/episode3/index.html] In this paragraph it talks about the teens that they deal with alot of drama and that they


 * Disorders You Can Get**

Bipolar disorder (previously termed 'manic-depressive illness') is a relatively common and chronic psychiatric condition in which patients experience episodes of mania and depression, usually with intervening periods of relative mood stability. Bipolar disorder is associated with cognitive and behavioural difficulties and in severe cases psychosis can present in the manic and depressive states. The World Health Organisation 2002 report, states that of all the neuropsychiatric conditions, bipolar affective disorder is the fourth cause of disability worldwide (The World Health Organisation, 2002).Often beginning in adolescence or early adulthood, bipolar disorder has a profound negative effect on interpersonal, social, family and vocational outcomes and is a risk factor for substance abuse and suicide.Recent reports have noted that up to 25% of bipolar disorder patients will attempt suicide at some point in the course of their illness. A number of studies have implicated several areas of the brain and have focused attention towards abnormalities in the intra-cellular processes of brain function, such as cell receptors and neurotransmitter effects.

In this paragraph the brain can get bipolar disorder if it gets to stressed out and it messes up the brain and some of its cells


 * Problems In The Brain**

Reactions, rather than rational thought, come more from the amygdala, deep in the brain, than the frontal cortex, which led Yurgelun-Todd and other neuroscientists to suggest that an immature brain leads to impulsivity, or what researchers dub "risk-taking behavior." Although it was known from animal studies and brain-injured people that the frontal cortex matures more slowly than other brain strucures, it has only been with the advent of functional MRI that researchers have been able to study brain activity in normal children. copied from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/work/onereason.html

This means that the brain of a teenager responds differently than the adult brain because teen feels they are ignored and feel like if adults dont understand them.

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]. copied from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14738243

In this paragraph it talks about how teens feel guilty about the things that they do and the level of thinking isn't normal and it is only mostly found in some adults