The Teenage Brain

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1. Brian Broecker says:

   April 6, 2014 at 11:44 am

   The Teenage Brain
   The article “Beautiful Brains” by David Dobbs explains how the teenage brain develops. In the article, Mr. Dobbs recalls how his son was arrested for reckless driving after going 113 miles per hour on the highway. He was upset not for what he had done, but because he was not “reckless”. Instead, he thought he was “in charge and fully aware of what he was doing” and even “focused”. Mr. Dobbs explains that teenagers’ brains are fully developed, but they have no idea how to properly use the brain. This inability to effectively use their brain is why teenagers make dumb mistakes and don’t know how to make smart and safe choices sometimes. The teen years are when the brain’s axons become faster and the synapses grow stronger allowing the brain to more effectively and efficiently manage information and making decisions. As stated in “Adolescent brain development” during this time “the brain cells and neural connections that get used the least get pruned away and die off; those that get used the most get stronger.” As the brain learns to use its power, decision-making becomes more consistent. How this relates to me in the article is shown through my ability to make smart decisions. When I am around my friends, I usually make dumb and unsafe choices, because according to this article, I feel more in control and safer around people my age. When I am alone and reflect what I have done with my friends, I think on how stupid and immature these “stunts” were. I believe that this article is correct and fully agree with what it says. The teenage brain is developing to learn what it fully can do and learning what choices are safe and unsafe. http://teenbrain.drugfree.org/science/growth.html

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2. Colby Koch says:

   April 6, 2014 at 8:58 pm

   This article explains the teenage mind during the age between 10 – 17, mainly focusing on a 15 year-old, and it explains many outside experiences a teenager encounter. Many of my friends have been able to make smart decisions on their own, but once they are with a friend, like the article explains, their adolescent mind changes opinions. As a teenager, I have taken many risks such as throwing snowballs at car because I love the feeling of risk and adventure. Although this article is well-written, I do not think it explains a teenagers “gut-feeling” well. As a teenager, I feel that my gut-feeling is usually correct but can be changed by outside forces. This article http://www.thehindu.com/in-school/sh-science/teenagers-and-their-gut-feelings/article5863174.ece helps explain the teenage gut feeling. These scientists should have also extended to this topic because it is a large part of the thought process.

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3. Caelan Kendall-Hahn says:

   April 7, 2014 at 1:03 pm

   This article is about the decisions that teenagers make and how the adolescent stage is more important to the brain than previously believed. It mainly focuses on the changes of the brain for a 15 year-old. As it turns out, the adolescent stage of brain development is for adaptation and changing for its environment. I relate well to this article because I agree with most of what the author is saying. Here is another article on adolescent brain development: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-still-under-construction/index.shtml

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4. Zach Messaglia says:

   April 7, 2014 at 1:36 pm

   What is interesting about this article is it covers how teens do better when being pushed for a reward. While this is not the main topic of the paper to most people I see it as one. This kid could be pushing for the reward of the adrenaline rush of going over 100mph, just the same as a cross country runner might push himself more to run even faster. I have experienced that push for reward in sports to focus and buckle down and focus all of my energy into the muscles I only need most. My article that I chose covers who brain capacity diminishes over time. This ties into your article because while your article covers brain development it doesn’t necessarily cover what happens after and later in life. Like your article my article covers the psychology side of people and covers what age groups are more prone to do what. In my article like yours the researchers also used MRI’s to back up their data and help both them and us understand the research.
   Fox, Maggie. “Why older people fall for scams: it’s all in the brain.” NBCNEWS. NBC News, 3 December 2012. Web. 7 April 2014.
   http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/03/15649600-why-older-people-fall-for-scams-its-all-in-the-brain?lite

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5. Chris Rodriguez says:

   April 8, 2014 at 7:22 pm

   The teenagers described in the Teenage Brain, are different from me. I see myself as a person who doesn’t take many risks. The teens described do things like drugs, drunk driving, etc. I don’t see myself doing any of these things. I’ve been raised to believe that those actions would hurt myself and others. When I turn the legal age to drink alcohol and drive a car, I would choose not to do anything that would endanger myself or others. On the road I see lots of bad actions, like people texting while driving, speeding, and running a red light. The videos and commercials that I see really scare me. Especially the video we watched in Digital Citizenship. The tragedies that could occur if I choose to do the wrong thing scare me greatly. In the article, “Risk, adaptation and the functional teenage brain,” a teenager’s decisions are based on their judgment, their personality, and how he or she was raised.

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