Adolescence is the important transition period from a little dependent kid to an independent adult. Many people believe that teenager’s brain only grow bigger in this period, however, the teenager’s brain is neither an “older” little kid’s brain, nor a half mature adult brain (Giedd, 2008). In fact, a teenager’s brain is developing at one of the most complex stages in their lifetime. The period of puberty also is defined as the most troublesome time. When people talk about teenagers, they always connect them with words like adventure, trouble-maker, aggressiveness, self-centeredness, or radicalness, etc. (Giedd, 2015) But why do only teenagers have these special traits unlike adults or kids? Today, I will discuss the differences between the
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Now, neuroscientists can investigate inside the operation of human brain by using new technology such as Computerized tomography (CT), Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). After many years of observation, scientists have found that the region of great variation during teenaged period is the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is one of the most important parts of the human brain. People started to realize its function through the study of Phineas Gage case, a railroad worker who survived an iron bar passing through his head. In an accident, an iron bar ripped into his left cheek, passing through his left eyeball, then came out from the top of his head. Everyone thought he would die, but he survived and lived for twelve years. He was a friendly and kind person before; however, after he suffered from the accident, his personality changed a lot. He became rude, self-centered, and aggressive (Brandon, 2004). Through Gage’s rare case, scientists confirmed that prefrontal cortex is the area controls emotions, provides reasonable judgement and makes decisions. Compared with adult’s prefrontal cortex, a teenager’s prefrontal cortex is not well developed; so most of the time, teenagers are not able to control themselves. That is the reason why teenagers try some dangerous things …show more content…
The scientists got this conclusion from using fMRI to scan youth and adult’s brains. We can see these traits can affect teenagers not only in social interaction, but also in decision-making, just like the case of Roper v. Simmons where a teenager was accused of murdering an older woman (Satel & Lilienfeld, 2013). Simmons’s amygdala was not well-developed, without empathy; he easily made the decision to kill an old lady. These all proved that teenager’s brain has a lot difference with adult’s
Now, neuroscientists can investigate inside the operation of human brain by using new technology such as Computerized tomography (CT), Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). After many years of observation, scientists have found that the region of great variation during teenaged period is the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is one of the most important parts of the human brain. People started to realize its function through the study of Phineas Gage case, a railroad worker who survived an iron bar passing through his head. In an accident, an iron bar ripped into his left cheek, passing through his left eyeball, then came out from the top of his head. Everyone thought he would die, but he survived and lived for twelve years. He was a friendly and kind person before; however, after he suffered from the accident, his personality changed a lot. He became rude, self-centered, and aggressive (Brandon, 2004). Through Gage’s rare case, scientists confirmed that prefrontal cortex is the area controls emotions, provides reasonable judgement and makes decisions. Compared with adult’s prefrontal cortex, a teenager’s prefrontal cortex is not well developed; so most of the time, teenagers are not able to control themselves. That is the reason why teenagers try some dangerous things …show more content…
The scientists got this conclusion from using fMRI to scan youth and adult’s brains. We can see these traits can affect teenagers not only in social interaction, but also in decision-making, just like the case of Roper v. Simmons where a teenager was accused of murdering an older woman (Satel & Lilienfeld, 2013). Simmons’s amygdala was not well-developed, without empathy; he easily made the decision to kill an old lady. These all proved that teenager’s brain has a lot difference with adult’s