2 The adolescent brain

Understanding more about adolescent brain development can help you to understand how to support a young person’s mental health. Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. According to neuroscientists, adolescence constitutes a period of significant transformation in the brain. Neuroscience has advanced considerably since the late 1980s when new imaging techniques such as those you may have already heard of including CT scans and MRI scans, have allowed detailed images to be made of living brains. These images have allowed scientists to understand more about how brains function and develop.

The brain is the ‘control centre’ of the entire nervous system, which comprises nerve cells that transmit messages within the brain as well as between different areas of the brain and the rest of the body. In different parts of the brain, signals from the body are translated into perceptions, feelings, thoughts and actions.

You may be aware that various areas of the brain perform different functions. For example, the occipital lobe at the back of the brain (see diagram below) is responsible for converting the nerve signals originating in the eye into images that you can perceive as ‘sight’. The two areas of the brain that have received the most attention from neuroscientists studying adolescence are:

  • the prefrontal cortex
  • the limbic system.

Study Figure 7 to familiarise yourself with the locations and broad functions of the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system before moving on to the next activity.

A diagram of the brain, labelled.
Figure 7
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A diagram of the brain, labelled. On the left-hand side, there are the following labels, prefrontal cortex, frontal lobe, callosum, lateral ventricle, hypothalamus, hypophysis, midbrain. On the right-hand side there are the following labels, parietal lobe, limbic system, occiputal lobe, thalamus, epiphysis, cerebellum, medulla oblongata and bridge.

Figure 7

Activity 4: Brain changes during adolescence

Timing: Allow about 40 minutes
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a. 

Both adults and adolescents found the task more difficult with the ‘director’ than with the ‘rules only’ condition.


b. 

Only adolescents found the task more difficult with the ‘director’ than with the ‘rules only’ condition.


The correct answer is a.

a. 

The ability to take someone else’s perspective in order to guide their behaviour is well developed in early adolescence.


b. 

The ability to take someone else’s perspective in order to guide their behaviour is still developing in mid to late adolescence.


The correct answer is b.

Step 3: Watch the TED talk from 8.30 to 11.39 to discover the outcomes of the experiment. Then, consider for a moment how many aspects of adolescent behaviour could be a reflection of normal brain development.

Discussion

The outcomes of the experiment showed that:

  • Both adults and adolescents found the task more difficult with the ‘director’ than with the ‘rules only’ condition.
  • The ability to take someone else’s perspective in order to guide their behaviour is still developing in mid to late adolescence.

Hold your initial thoughts about the link between adolescent behaviour and their brains as you move to the next step.

Linking adolescent behaviour with brain development can help people accept adolescence and some of the behaviours that are displayed then as a normal process rather than see it as abnormal or deviant. Risk-taking and peer pressure are two characteristics that are strongly associated with adolescence, and you’ll consider these further next.

1.5 Challenges of adolescence

2.1 Peer pressure and risk taking