Developmental Psychology - Essay Example

Pruning back means losing a significant number of the said connections and is a healthy process. The goal of pruning is to create more efficient and faster information processing as compared to the presence of all the connection. This information shows the incomplete brain development is incomplete, and its susceptibility to the effects of drugs. The uses of drugs to such a developing brain include arrested development due to susceptibility to deleterious effects of drugs (Winters, 2008.). This is concerning brain damage to the frontal cortex because of drug use; thus, affecting their working memory.

This occurs because of extensive drug use, common in teenagers seeking social approval or looking to drown their social problems. Drug use leads to significant neural loss in the cerebellum, basal forebrain and neocortex, which, in turn, cause memory retrieval deficits (Breyer & Winters, n.d.). In addition, during youth, three parts of the brain undergo maturation: amygdale, nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex, since these three parts are associated with human behavior due to generation of certain impulses, they are easily affected by drug use (Breyer & Winters, n.d.). . In this case, drugs affect judgment and create addiction in an individual.

In spite of the profound effect on some parts of the brain, teenage, evidence of effect on the sensory cortical is minimal (Kolb & Gibb, 2011). This occurs concerning changes in experience-dependent changes, in an individual, based on learning. Use of certain drugs such as diazepam affects the brain and behavioral development. This is concerning determining the length of dendrites and the strength of pyramidal cells in the parietal cortex. The use of this drug appears to have a positive impact to the user in that they develop enhanced skills in motor function.

This occurs while abuse of other substances such as fluoxetine decreases the length of dendrites and leads to impairment in spatial learning. The abuse of the above two, discussed, drugs lead to reduced plasticity of the brain concerning learning influence on behavior. In addition, the use of some drugs, in teenagers, leads to increased risk of acquiring or developing certain health conditions and complications. This is especially the case for schizophrenia and the abuse of marijuana. This occurs based based on the dosage taken by a given individual and his or her exposure, as well as the age.

Research shows that higher risk of schizophrenia develops when the using teenager is below the age of twenty-one years. In addition, evidence suggests that most of the schizophrenia cases are resultant from the use of cannabis. The relationship between the two is because the use of marijuana in a maturing brain boosts dopamine levels in the brain, this happens while dopamine is known to affect schizophrenia (Morgan, n.d.). Concerning psychosis and drug abuse, the effects of