Verified Document

Wiring Of The Teenage Brain The Teenage Essay

¶ … wiring of the teenage brain? The teenage brain undergoes major restructuring during the formative teen years. The frontal cortex goes through a growth spurt right before puberty. This leads to a thickening of the area brain responsible for thinking. Typically the human brain is already ninety-five percent the size of an adult's by age six. However, during the teenage years the growth spurt results in new neural interconnections and pathways.

It is hypothesized that skills that are in constant use during the teenage are reinforced by the brain. While those skills or areas of the brain that are not in use, do not get the same reinforcement. This is known as the "use it or lose it" principal. For example, those students who engage in high levels of music and art see those neural pathways reinforced, therefore poised to flourish in the latter years, while other skill sets and pathways are left to die.

The teenage brain is also immature since the frontal cortex is still developing. The fact that the brain is still in development leads teenagers to make decisions that are not well thought out or planned. Teenagers take higher risks and often do not see the consequences of their actions. For example, teenagers do not utilize helmets as they should. This is because...

Researchers in Rhode Island have found that while most teenagers sleep seven and half hours, the optimal number for teens is actually need nine and a quarter hours of sleep. However, modern distractions such as television, the internet, video games, and cell phones are preventing teenagers from achieving the maximal hours of sleep. Incidentally, their circadian clock makes them more active at night; this keeps teens up into the late hours of the night.
The lack of sleep affects teenagers in a number of ways. It affects their mood, their mental capacity to think, and their judgment. The University of Trent ran an experiment comparing sleep levels and a teen's capacity to learn. They found that during REM sleep the brain rehearses and even improves what they learned during the day. So a good night's sleep is imperative to learning new material. These findings led to certain school districts starting school later in the day. The results are positive; students are more engaged and active throughout the school day.

What do teens need from their parents?

Despite…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Teenager's Brain
Words: 2246 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

Teenager's Brain A Teenagers Brain The teenage brain is different from the normal adult's brain in which "…various parts of the brain work together to evaluate choices, make decisions and act accordingly in each situation." (Edmonds, 2010) The teenage brain can be compared to an entertainment center, according to Edmonds "that hasn't been fully hooked up. There are loose wires, so that the speaker system isn't working with the DVD players,

Released by the FBI and
Words: 17274 Length: 65 Document Type: Research Proposal

" Human development- behavioral shifts in human being that tae place during the course of an entire lifespan ("Human Behavior"). Risk Analysis- the activity of determining and analyzing the dangerous natural and human caused negative events. This analysis takes into consideration the risks these event pose to businesses individuals and governments. Within the domain of information technology risk analysis reports are utilized to tailor technology-related objectives with a an organization's business objectives.

What Is the Importance of Play in Early Childhood
Words: 985 Length: 3 Document Type: Research Paper

chilhood? Play has an essential role in a person's development, as it enables the individual to gain a more complex understanding of the world around him or her and as it is basically a learning tool that children use with the purpose to overcome challenges, experience pleasure, and become more motivated. Children are in a position where they are obsessed with learning and as they grow up they get actively

Children, Especially Teenagers, Are at
Words: 1762 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 16(4): 99-114. Barrett, David & Melrose, Margaret (2012). Courting Controversy -- Children Sexually Abused Through Prostitution -- Are They Everybody's Distant Relatives but Nobody's Children? Child and Family Law Quarterly, 15(4): 371-382. McCabe, Kimberly (2007). The Role of Internet Service Providers in Cases of Child Pornography and Child Prostitution. Social Science Computer Review, 26(2): 247-251. Streetlight USA (2012). The Issue. Accessed 18 July 2012 at http://streetlightusa.org/the-issue/ U.S. Department

Naturalistic Observations the Advantages of
Words: 903 Length: 2 Document Type: Research Proposal

This chapter points out how early environmental influences, however, are also part of the nurture equation, something that is often forgotten. A baby who is picked up when he or she cries, is given stimulation in the nursery, and is given good nutrition will have a better start in life than a baby who is given none of these advantages, even if the deprived and enriched infants in this

Media Images Are Not Harmful
Words: 1696 Length: 5 Document Type: Thesis

Providing a strong cultural and personal role model may be more important than attempting to socially engineer the messages teens and all citizens receive. The lesser susceptibility of certain ethnic groups to media pressures to live up to an ideal of thinness or physical perfection highlights the complex interplay between cultural, social, and psychological factors that produce self-esteem and what might be called body image. The interplay of these

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now