Adolescence and the Brain

 By: Elaina Curran, HPD, DSFH, DPLR, CNHCreg, AfSFHreg 

So, your once delightful, happy, loving child has hit puberty. Perhaps they have become sullen or moody, difficult and prone to emotional outbursts. It is interesting to note that your child’s behavioural changes occur at the same time as the brain goes through a sort of metamorphosis.

We tend to blame hormones, and that is partly true, but what we really should be looking at is the brain itself.

Not since the age of three does the human brain experience such massive physical change as when we reach adolescence. From the ages of about 10 until 12, grey matter in the brain increases and neural connections multiply extensively. The brain actually creates much more than it needs so, during the teen years, the excessive neural connections are pruned back so that it begins to more closely resemble an adult brain.

But there’s more. Besides all these physical changes happening, science has found that the teenage brain reacts differently from that of a child or an adult. For one thing the amygdala, which is our fight/flight/fear centre, plays a much more dominant role. The amygdala is not an intellect. It is only capable of reacting. Teens, therefore, will tend to act on how they are feeling in the moment rather than evaluating and assessing the consequences of their words and actions. Also, the brain’s prefrontal cortex, which is where logic, reasoning, planning and decision-making mainly happen, is still “under construction”. As a matter of fact, the prefrontal cortex does not become fully active until a person reaches their late 20’s. Is it any wonder, then, that a teen might tend to react emotionally, irrationally or irresponsibly?

Are these physical changes in the brain solely responsible for their behaviour? No. The human brain is never that simple. Those difficult teenage years, at least for some, happen due to a number of factors. One significant contributor is stress. Peers, navigating through complex social interactions, school, exam pressure, establishing one’s identity and so many other issues certainly will not help. Add these stressful situations to their changing bodies and brains and the problems can get compounded.

Studies show that adolescents actually need more sleep, 9 ¼ hours, than children and adults who each require an average of 8 hours of sleep a night. The sleep-deprived teen will release an increased amount of cortisol, which is a stress hormone. So, less sleep will likely result in more stress. Statistics on mental health also show that sleep-deprived adults are 40% more likely to suffer from clinical depression. The figures for depression vary only slightly from this for adolescents.

Parents and carers, while you are battening down the hatches and waiting to ride out the storm, you might like to know about a special kind of neuron in the brain that could be pivotal when dealing with your teen. These are called mirror neurons and scientists have found that they help us to learn. When we do, we learn. When we watch, we learn. Whether we perform an action or watch someone else performing an action, the relevant parts of the brain “engage” in either case. As much as you might be tempted to tear your hair out in frustration and lose your cool, remember that your teen is still looking to you as a role model and teacher and they are learning through example. Love, reason and patience will pay off…eventually!