The Teenage Brain

Guess who is being described in this riddle … Known to be moody most of the time even though they do not admit it, and love to hate everything surrounding them?  You are right… Teenagers! While watching the program “Inside a teenage brain,” I learned many interesting things about being a teenager that I did not know before. I have to admit, this program allowed me to understand myself better. Teenagers like me are moody all the time. It’s like a being on a roller coaster: up and down during the same ride. No wonder people see teenagers as “unstable,” one minute very happy and the other very depressed. These ups and downs are known as mood swings. Sometimes we feel we want to cry for no apparent reason; sometimes we feel so angry that we want to scream and most of the time we hide in our rooms to get away from people when reality is, we need to get away from ourselves. Thank goodness for I-pods! But wait, I forgot to say, I am a normal, healthy, happy teenager.

Teenagers do not get enough sleep. On the average, teenagers should get eight to nine hours of sleep each night, but we are lucky if we get five to six hours on weekdays and Saturdays. Sundays we try to catch up on lost sleep thinking twelve hours will do the trick; but unfortunately, it seems sleep can not be recovered. Can someone please introduce me to a teenager that thinks of him/herself as a morning person because I do not know any? Who decided that school should be held during the day? Have you ever met a teenager that is cranky and tired at night and freely goes to bed? If adults are so worried about the amount of sleep we as teenagers get, why do our teachers assign so much homework? Don’t they know that lack of sleep affects our brains?

Adults seem to be worried about Alcohol and tobacco use among teenagers. Let me tell you, it is insane. I have witnessed the throwing up, the passing out and how stupid teenagers act when drunk. So, where are the adults when this happens? It is sad to say that many times, they are the ones quietly encouraging it. Silence and pretend blindness will not make the problem go away.

To conclude, brain development in teenagers is not complete until we reach 21. We see the outside world in a different way than adults do. No wonder we have many conflicts with just about everyone in our lives. Adults especially parents play an important role in a teenager’s life. We need their advice, their love, their understanding and their support, even if we say and act as if we do not want it. As a teenager who is lucky to have a great relationship with her mother, I think parents make a big mistake when they try to control teenagers’ actions. What they do not understand is that the more they try to control teenagers, the more they will rebel.  I am not an expert on this topic, I am a teenager; but, after watching the TV program about the teenage brain, I recommend that not only teenagers be educated on this matter. Parents have to be educated as well. No matter how much teenagers say they hate their parents, they need to have a strong connection with them to be able to make the right decisions everyone expects them to make.

Hoe the Brain Works

The brain is a very powerful organ. It controls how the body works. It weighs 3lbs in adults. The brain is divided into two hemispheres the right and the left. The right hemisphere controls the left part of the body and the left hemisphere controls the right part of the body. Both of these hemispheres have 4 lobes, the frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe and the temporal lobe. The left hemisphere specializes in the more analytical and mathematical thinking. It deals with the hard facts like knowledge, discipline, logic etc. The right hemisphere is the opposite it deals with creativity and emotions. This includes feelings, art, sensitivity, visualizing activity etc. The union of these hemispheres is called the corpus collasum. This unifies the right and the left hemisphere so they can work together as one. This helps both hemispheres to communicate and work smoothly.

 Broca’s area is located in the frontal lobe and it focuses on speech. It is mainly responsible for speech and language. This area was discovered in 1861 by a French neurosurgeon called Paul Broca. Broca himself had difficulty with speaking. He could only make the sound “tan”. When this area is damaged most people can’t speak, words are not formed and speech is slow.

Split brain is when the corpus collasum is cut to reduce seizures in the brain. In some cases cutting the corpus collasum helps control seizures, and in some, seizures have disappeared, but communication between hemispheres can no longer be.

Wernicke’s area was discovered by Karl Wernicke. This area is located in the left temporal lobe and it involves language comprehension and expression. When this area is damaged people can loose the ability to understand language. In addition, people can have a hard time putting words together that make sense. Wernike’s area and Broca’s area are connected by a large bundle of nerves called arcuate fasciculus. “In most people (97%), both Broca's area and Wernicke's area are found in only the left hemisphere of the brain” (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lang.html).

The lobe responsible for the vision is called the optical lobe.

The lobe responsible for hearing and language is the temporal lobe.

The lobe responsible for the mathematical equations is the frontal lobe and it is also responsible for judgment, reasoning, and impulse control.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-brocas-area.htm

http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/d/d_10/d_10_cr/d_10_cr_lan/d_10_cr_lan.html

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lobe.html

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/lang.html

homepage.psy.utexas.edu/.../Lecture%208%20Brain%20Structur PPT  

http://www.mayfieldclinic.com/Images/PE-AnatBrainFig3.jpg

http://www.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/IMG/jpg/broca_et_WernickeV2.jpg

Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage was a 25 year-old railroad worker who was responsible for “rock blasting for a new railway line in Vermont” (http://www.answers.com/topic/phineas-gage-1). On September 13, 1868 he suffered a horrific brain injury when the charge he was handling exploded while he was holding it. “The explosion caused a 13-pound iron rod to enter his left cheek and exit the midline of his skull anterior to the bregma, resulting in severe injury to his left prefrontal cortex” (http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/11/2/280).

Surprisingly, Phineas survived this brain trauma, but as a result of it, he lost one eye and most of his face. This injury greatly impacted Phineas’ personality.  After the extensive brain injury, it was as if a completely different man came out of the accident:

“His contractors, who regarded him as the most efficient and capable foreman previous to his injury, considered the change in his mind so marked that they could not give him his place again. He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom), manifesting but little deference for his fellows, impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires, at times pertinaciously obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating, devising many plans of future operation, which are no sooner arranged than they are abandoned in turn for others appearing more feasible. In this regard, his mind was radically changed, so decidedly that his friends and acquaintances said he was "no longer Gage" (http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/11/2/280).

  Phineas brain injury has shed light on the complexity of the human brain. First of all, it was unheard of that any human being could survive such a horrific brain injury, never mind walk or be able to communicate with others. This motivated researchers of the 19^th century to discuss issues related to brain localization and lateralization. For example, “Dr. David Ferrier, who was an early champion for the theory of cerebral localization, was able to describe in detail the focal mapping of the cerebral function. Dr. Ferrier cited the Gage case as a primary example of how frontal lobe injury can result in changes of personality that are not demonstrable by sensory and motor exam” (http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/11/2/280).

In reference to lateralization or hemispheric specialization the left hemisphere of the brain specializes in symbolic thinking, (language), detail, and literal meaning. (homepage.psy.utexas.edu/.../Lecture%208%20Brain%20Structure).PPT  In Phineas’ case, the left side of the brain was affected by his injuries resulting in trouble with these brain functions. These findings have resulted in “crucial role in the discovery of behavioral syndromes resulting from frontal lobe dysfunction” (http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/11/2/280).

 

Work Cited:

http://www.deakin.edu.au/hmnbs/psychology/gagepage/Pgstory.php

http://www.psywww.com/intropsych/ch02_human_nervous_system/phineas_gage.html

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/264/5162/1102

http://www.answers.com/topic/phineas-gage-1

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/phineas_gage.jpg

http://www.pharmas.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/phineas.jpeg

http://joeltalks.com/web_images/phineas_gage_mcmillan.jpg

Criminal Behavior

Why do people display criminal behavior? Over the years, researchers have debated over the causes of criminal behavior. Some explain criminal behavior using brain imagery studies; others state that genetics play an important role, while others blame the combination of both nature and nurture. I see criminal behavior as a combination of both predispositions and environment.



How does nature play a role in criminal behavior? Brain imagery studies have shown that frontal lobe lesions are associated with aggression. More so, studies using brain imagery of psychopaths show a particular brain pattern associated with frontal lobe dysfunction. Another theory associated with brain chemistry studies is the role that neurotransmitters play in criminal and antisocial behavior. Low activity of Monoamine Oxidase (MAO), an enzyme in the brain, “results in disinhibition which can lead to impulsivity and aggression” (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html). In 1996, Eysenck explained that “MAO is related to neurotransmitters norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine, which are all related to the personality factor of psychosis” (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html). In 2003, Lowenstein stated that “studies point to serotonin as one of the most important central neurotransmitters underlying the modulation of impulsive aggression" (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html). Dopamine is another neurotransmitter in the brain “that is associated with pleasure and is also one of the neurotransmitters that is chiefly associated with aggression” (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html). These neurochemical studies suggest that it is possible “that there is a genetic component to antisocial or criminal behavior” (http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html).


Another theory used in describing the causes of criminal behavior is the social learning theory. This theory is based on how environmental or nurture plays an important role in criminal behavior. Statistics have and will continue to show that children who grow in environments in which there is violence, they are more prone to exhibit, as adults, the behaviors that they learned. Children who have been physically and sexually abused are more prone to develop violent or aggressive behavior as grown ups.


The last argument, which I agree with, points to a combination of nature and nurture to explain criminal behavior. Nature relates to the predisposition to criminal behavior and environment is responsible if it develops or not. For example, it is less likely for a person who is predisposed to criminal behavior to develop it if he/she is raised in an environment that discourages aggression and violence. I believe that with the appropriate environment, almost every child can developed into an adult that chooses the right behaviors.

Work Cited:
http://www.alien-earth.org/news/images/brain-psychopath.jpg
http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/jones.html
http://www.keralawomen.gov.in/articles/T_1220443992child-abuse.jpg
Interview with Jackie Casanova, MSEd