1 / 13

The Adolescent Brain

The Adolescent Brain. Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/. The Brain. Weighs about 3 pounds “The most complicated mass of matter in the known universe.” Contains over 10 billion neurons and another 100 billion support cells.

cindy
Download Presentation

The Adolescent Brain

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Adolescent Brain

  2. Frontline: Inside the Teenage Brain • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/

  3. The Brain • Weighs about 3 pounds • “The most complicated mass of matter in the known universe.” • Contains over 10 billion neurons and another 100 billion support cells. • Eventually forms over 100 trillion connections. • Brain controls ALL activity • Constantly changing and adapting • Neurons are capable of re-routing circuits

  4. Terminology • Neurons: • Specialized cells that transmit information to other nerve cells or muscles. • Axon: • An electricity conducting fiber that carries information away from the cell body. • Dendrite: • Receives messages from other neurons • Synapse: • Contact point where one neuron “communicates” with another neuron. Source: Sullivan, 2006

  5. Source: University of Utah, 2006

  6. Brain Development • 2 stages: • Growth spurts or overproduction of neurons • Pruning • Growth spurts are seen at younger ages • Pruning happens during adolescence • “Use it or lose it”

  7. Frontal Lobe Parietal Lobe Temporal Lobe Occipital Lobe Cerebellum Corpus Callosum Brain Stem BRAIN STRUCTURES Source: University of Utah, 2006

  8. Source: University of Utah, 2006

  9. Frontal Lobe • Responsible for: • Personality, judgment, reasoning, problem solving, rational decision making, • Logic and understanding of consequences • Governs impulsivity, aggression, • Organizing thoughts, planning for the future • Undergoes significant changes during adolescence • Not fully developed until mid-20’s.

  10. Prefrontal Cortex • Part of the frontal lobe: • Helps with impulse control, judgments, reasoning • One of the last areas of the brain to develop fully. • During this time, there is an increased need for: • Structure, mentoring, and guidance from adults

  11. Temporal Lobes • Control hearing, understanding speech, sorting new information and short-term memory • Contains: • Amygdala and hippocampus • Matures around 18-19 years of age.

  12. The Teenage Brain • Underdevelopment of frontal cortex leads to: • More “gut” reactions than reasoning • More likely to use amygadala (emotions) than prefrontal cortex (reasoning) for information processing. • It takes experience to train the brain.

  13. http://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/ldu/sddu_multimedia/images/kolb_cycle.gifhttp://www.ldu.leeds.ac.uk/ldu/sddu_multimedia/images/kolb_cycle.gif

More Related