by Lisa Frederiksen
Little did we know until the Decades of the Brain (1990′s) and Discovery (2000′s) that the brain could take until age 25 to fully develop. Little did we know that the kinds of brain developmental activities that occur from ages 12 – 20, often through 25, explain why teens do the things they do (seek risks, not consider potentially negative outcomes) and why alcohol and/or drug abuse can be so problematic for young people’s brains.
The following is an excerpt from an article, “Teen Brain’s Uneven Development Explains Why Teens Act the Way They Do,” appearing on ManhassetPress:
…It’s as if, while the other parts of the teen brain are shouting, the Prefrontal Cortex is not quite ready to play referee. This can have noticeable effects on adolescent behavior. You may have noticed some of these effects in your teen:
- difficulty holding back or controlling emotions,
- a preference for physical activity,
- a preference for high excitement and low effort activities (video games, sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll),
- poor planning and judgment (rarely thinking of negative consequences),
- more risky, impulsive behaviors, including experimenting with drugs and alcohol.
…The use of drugs and alcohol may also disrupt the development of the adolescent brain in unhealthy ways, making it harder for teens to cope with social situations and the normal pressures of life.
Moreover, the brain’s reward circuits (the dopamine system) get thrown out of whack when under the influence. This causes a teen to feel in a funk when not using drugs or alcohol—and going back for more only makes things worse… Click here to continue reading.
To learn more about this underage brain development, see brain scans showing brain development ages 5 – 20 and better understand why a person under age 21 can become an alcoholic, click here.
