UNDERSTANDING TEENAGER Why are teenagers of today more daring, more adventurers and worst of all, nonchalant towards

their surroundings? Is it their hormones raging? Is it the media influence? Or is it the fault of parents themselves? Teenage behavior is not only a mystery to parents, but even scientist are cracking their heads trying to figure out what makes adolescence so exciting and exasperating! Guess what they found out? Its the BRAIN.yesa host of structural changes in the brain explains adolescence behavior! Dr Jay Giedd, chief of brain imaging in the child psychiatry branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, started a giant study since 1991 to determine the development of a childs brain into adolescence and on to early adulthood. Using the high powered Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), so far, Giedd has scanned the heads of about 1800 kids and teenagers to see the childs brain development. Before Giedd started his venture into these teenagers heads, it was believed that the brain was largely complete by the time a child reaches the age of 12. Theorists before had concluded that the adolescent period was simply created and that a child is considered adult enough when puberty hits. Giedds study has proved that the adolescent brain is far from mature, and both the gray and white matters go through massive changes in its structure well past puberty. Gray matter wanes as the brain matures. The MRI studies have showed how the physiological changes in the brain could affect adolescent behaviors like emotional outburst, reckless in taking risks, breaking rules, and impassioned pursuit for sex, drugs and rock and roll. The brains do develop according to a set plan, however experience and environment do affect the subtle changes in the gray matter. The brain grows very little during the childhood years as the brain is actually 90% to 95% adult size by the time a child is 6. the brains go through some proliferation and pruning before it reaches its full capacity. The first pruning session takes place during the final months before birth. The second wave of proliferation occurs later in childhood and the most critical pruning which affects our highest mental functions happens during our late teens. Pruning or proliferation is a process where the number of connections and synapses between the neurons are altered and unnecessary brain cells are eliminated. The brain Different part of the brain mature at different times, therefore the time lapse during this transitional period affects teenage behavior. The Corpus Callosum is part of the brain which is involved in problem solving and creativity. During adolescence, the nerve fibers thicken and process information more efficiently. The Prefrontal Cortex, the area of sober and second thought is the last part of the brain to mature, which is why teens get into so much trouble. The Basal Ganglia helps prioritize information and this is the part of the brain which exposes teens to music and sports while it is growing.

The Amygdala is the emotional centre of the brain. While adults rely on the prefrontal cortex in processing emotion, teens rely on the amygdala thus explaining why teens often react more impulsively. The Cerebellum plays a role in thought processing and physical coordination. It is more sensitive to environment than to heredity and it changes dramatically during adolescence. It is the only part of the brain which continues to grow well into early 20s. The maturity process of the brain is quite slow, and that is why teenagers are not able to make decisions that are reasonable. They often act on impulse, thus falling prey to the many social illness in the world. Haaa. Research shows that you can blame it on the brain! How hormones affect the brain? Hormones too play a part in teen behavior! During puberty, ovaries and testes produces estrogen and testosterone in the bloodstreams. This causes all the physical changes seen at puberty like hair sprouting, pimples and also the body taking its adult shape. Lately, it has been discovered that these adrenal sex hormones are very active in the brain as it attaches itself to the receptors that has direct influence on the neurochemicals that affects ones mood and excitability. The sex hormones are particularly active in the brains emotional center. Dr Ronald Dahl, a psychiatrist at the University of Pittsburgh said that, adolescents are actively looking for experiences to create intense feelings. There is some particular hormone brain relationship contributing to the appetite for thrills, strong sensations and excitement. The thrill that Dahl meant may be the reason teenagers love exploring new things and indulging into risky adventures like illegal racing, gangsterisme, experimenting drugs, over consumption of alcohol and not forgetting pre-marital sex! The part of the brain responsible for things like sensation seeking are getting turned on in big ways around time of puberty, but the parts exercising judgment still maturing throughout the course of adolescence, says Temple University Psychologist, Laurence Steinberg. Basically, adolescence is that in between time where kids are easily influenced by all things excitingly dangerous as their reasoning power is still under construction. Why teens do what they do? Steinberg, who did a study on risk assessment, experimented on teens and adults to see if they decide whether to run a yellow light. He found that teenagers take more risk when with a group of friends.

It is not a wonder as most teenagers dread being alone and as a result they turn to friends, regardless of who they are or what they do. According to Sonia, a local youth counselor feels that teenagers are followers. Teenagers today do not have much aim for themselves. They tend to follow whoever they like and do whatever the other person does. Those who are more aggressive are more likely to lead the pack. On teens experimenting with drugs and alcohol, researchers traditionally blamed this on peer pressure, teenagers attraction to novelty and strong pursuit for sex. Researches now have raised the possibility that this may be the cause of the abundant dopamine that is particularly active during the teen years. Dopamine is a chemical involved in motivation and reinforcing behavior which could make teens vulnerable to the stimulating effect of drugs and alcohol. Laziness is another familiar teenage behavior. According to James Bjork from the National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism, teenagers have less activity in the region of the frontal cortex that directs motivation to seek rewards. If adolescents have a motivational deficit, it may mean they are prone to engaging in behaviors that have a really high excitement factor or low effort factor. Bedtime is always later for most teens. Well, studies have proven that it takes longer time for melatonin, a chemical that signals the body to begin shutting down for sleep, to rise in teenagers than in younger kids or in adults. Basically, the brains program for shutting off is later. So, the next time you get annoyed with a teenager for their behavior, think againits not the person really, its the brainsand the teens cant help it! Science and the world today! Throughout his experiment with the teenagers, Dr Giedd has found that teenage years are actually more than mere 19 years. He believes teenagers could go up to 25 years old! But does the law itself does not allow for such late maturity as an 18 year old could get a driving licence, and you are expected to be mature enough to vote at the age of 21. Science on the other hand has proved that decision making is only rationale at the age of approximately 25! In the old times, people got married at the tender age of 13 or 14! According to science, you dont even have a fully developed brain at this age! Today, nobody or hardly anybody ever gets married at such young age, but instead there is many other activities that teens get involved in such as pre marital sex, taking drugs, being involved with gangstersyou name it!

What can a parent do? Studies have shown that good parenting continues to help teenagers develop in healthy ways especially by staying out of trouble and doing well in school. Whatever parents do to help their children does count! Parents should also be generous with praises and show physical affection. Well, so far there has been no evidence that teens are harmed by over-loving parents as long as they are not embarrassed in front of their friends. Parents should continue to be involved in their childrens life even in their teens and not just let go. Parents should spend more time together by getting to know their childs programs and interest. Parenting strategies are also as important. Strategies differ at each stage of the childs growth. Adapting to the growth is important. Teenagers do need rules and limits as to what they can and cannot do. however the rules need to be fair and reasonable and it needs to be relaxed as time passes. Psychologists believe that teens need their space. Parents often equate their teens quest for independence with rebelliousness and disobedience or disrespect. Parents should also give explanations for their decisions and their rules. It should be clear and appropriate in order to expect teens to actually follow them. So parents dont give up hope just yet! There are so many things you can do to help your child.