What scientists have discovered over the last decade is that the brain undergoes a “rewiring” process that is not complete until approximately 25 years of age. This enables us to appreciate why teenagers act so recklessly and emotionally. The frontal lobes are involved in movement control, problem solving, spontaneity, memory, language, initiation, judgment, impulse control, and social and sexual behaviour. Furthermore, the prefrontal cortex, which is implicated in drug-seeking behaviour, remains in a process of continuous reconstruction, consolidation, and maturation during adolescence.
Recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the rational component of the brain, the part that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. This does not happen in teenagers who are more likely to process information with the amygdala, the emotional component of the brain.
Advanced brain imaging has revealed that the teenage brain has lots of plasticity, which means it can change, adapt and respond to its environment. The brain does not grow by getting substantially larger during the teenage years but rather through increased connectivity between brain regions. This growth in connectivity presents itself as white matter in the brain, which comes from a fatty substance called myelin. As the brain develops, myelin wraps itself around nerve cells’ axons. Myelination, the scientific name for this process, strengthens and accelerates the communication between brain regions and underlies a person’s basic learning abilities.
In teen’s brains, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making centre are still developing. That shed light on why teens have overwhelming emotional input, they cannot explain later what they were thinking. They feel much more than they were thinking as the emotional part and rational part of the brain are maturing at different rates.
The myelination process starts from the back of the brain and works its way to the front. That means the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain involved in decision-making, planning and self-control, is the last part to mature.
Nevertheless, teenagers undergo major changes in their limbic system, the area of the brain that controls emotions, at the onset of puberty, which is typically around the ages of 10 to 12. This mismatch in the development of the different parts of the brain is what causes the risk-taking behaviours that are so common among teenagers. It is more difficult for a teenager to shut off the emotional systems.
Out of several neurotransmitters in the CNS, three are implicated in the maturation of adolescent behaviour: dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin. Dopamine influences brain events that control
- Movement
- Emotional response
- The ability to experience pleasure and pain.
Its levels decrease during adolescence, resulting in mood swings and difficulties regulating emotions.
Serotonin plays a significant role in
- Mood alterations
- Anxiety
- Impulse control
- Arousal.
Its levels also decrease during adolescence, and this is associated with decreased impulse control.
The third neurotransmitter, melatonin regulates circadian rhythms and the sleep–wake cycle. The body’s daily production of melatonin increases the requirement for sleep during adolescence.
Another significant research finding is that about 70% of mental disorders, including anxiety, mood and eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and psychosis, have their onset in the teen years and early adulthood. The timing is in keeping with our understanding that the prefrontal cortex and frontal lobes are implicated in the emergence of these disorders.
An area of the teenager's brain that is fairly well-developed early on, though, is the nucleus accumbens, or the area of the brain that seeks pleasure and reward. In imaging studies that compared brain activity when the subject received a small, medium or large reward, teenagers exhibited exaggerated responses to medium and large rewards compared to children and adults. When presented with a small reward, the teenagers' brains hardly fired at all in comparison to adults and children.
Ultimately, it is the combination of the prefrontal cortex and a heightened need for a reward that drives some of the most frustrating teenage behaviour. Adults may be able to resist the urges to perform stunts using the skateboard or shoplift as our prefrontal cortex will curb any impulse to do so, and our prefrontal cortex will inform us that the negative consequences are not worth the thrills. However, teenagers have a strong need to satisfy the reward centre, and their brain cannot register all the risks that are involved.
There is no need for parents to feel helpless at this juncture. There are a few steps that an effective parent can take when there is an adolescent in the family.
First, a parent can discuss the pros and cons of their actions and that can help teens link impulsive behaviours with their consequences. Such discussions facilitate the brain to establish these connections and wires the brain to make these links more often.
Second, most teens like to know that they are competent and can overcome challenging situations. Hence, it will be good to empower them and encourage them to assume a role in changing bad situations. Some derive inspiration from their past successes and hence a parent can remind them of the occasions in the past they thought would be devastating, but turned out to be alright.
Third, a parent needs to be familiar with the important things in the teens’ life. There is no better way to show that the teens are important to you than by demonstrating an interest in their pursuits and activities that give them pleasure.
Fourth, resist the urge to interrupt them when they talk with you and to allow them to elaborate on their problems and predicaments thoroughly. Very often, the teens have thought of some possible solutions to their difficulties so it will be important to hear them out first. Do not rush in to offer a quick fix as the teens will find that condescending and will think that the parent has no time or patience to listen to their problems.
