Inside the teen Brain - Essay Example

Inside the Teen Brain The Brain is basically finished developing at the onset of adolescence. False. The teenager’s brain can actually said to be closer to a child’s brain than to an adult’s as there are still a number of essential neuron connections that are being forged and have an effect on their emotional, physical and mental abilities (Brownlee 2).2. Teenagers are more emotional than adults due entirely to hormones.False. As mentioned above, the teenager’s brain has not fully formed at this stage in life and the connections between neurons that have yet to develop have an effect on their emotional abilities meaning that this status cannot be entirely blamed on hormones (Brownlee 2).3. The prefrontal cortex (frontal lobes) is the area of our brain that causes us to react rationally in the face of emotional situations (for example, intense fear, anger).True. “The prefrontal cortex can be referred to as the part of the brain that performs the executive decisions of an individual.

These include the ability to damper or prolong emotions” (Brownlee 2).4. The frontal lobes in teens are not fully developed.True. “Studies have shown at this stage that the prefrontal cortex has not yet lent a hand to the limbic system at this stage in life thus being one of the reasons that they have problems interpreting facial expressions” (Brownlee 3).5. Neurons that are not connected to other neurons are pruned away, or die off.True. “The lesser neurons are used, the more they are pruned and if they are not used at all for a period of time they eventually die off” (Brownlee 3).6. Pruning takes place only in very early childhood.False. Pruning starts at about the age of 12 but takes place in different parts of the brain at different times as the brain continues to develop (Brownlee 3).7. Teens often use poor judgment because they do not have experience necessary for good judgment.False. Teenager show poor judgment because there are parts of the brain that have not yet developed that would help an adult make better decisions (Brownlee 2).8. Teens often act impulsively simply because they are being rebellious.

False, Teenagers act impulsively because the frontal lobe which helps one make rational decisions has not yet full developed yet (Brownlee 2).9. Finally, how does this article help explain the disturbing statistics we learned at the beginning of this unit? Be very specific.This article explains that the statistics can be attributed to the fact that the teenage brain has not yet full developed at this stage in life and can therefore be incapable of making rational decisions in various situations especially those where a large amount of emotions are involved.

Their actions can be blamed partly on the fact that the frontal lobe is still developing at this juncture.Work CitedBrownlee, Shannon. “Inside the Teen Brain Behavior can be baffling when young minds are taking shape” .8th January 1999. US news. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/culture/articles/990809/archive_001644.htm