Understanding Teen Behavior & Brain Development

1. My Kid Did What?! An Explanation of Teenage Behavior and Brain Development My Kid Did What?! An Explanation of Teenage Behavior and Brain Development

2. A teenager ’ s brain “ has a well-developed accelerator but only a partly developed brake. ” Laurence Steinberg

3. Bottom Up Development Bottom Up Development

4. 200 Billion Neurons By age 6! Learning is the process of creating, strengthening, and discarding connections among neurons.

5. AGE 11-12 24-25 AGE 11-12 24-25 200 100

8. Why Do We Lose 50% of Our Brain Cells? To make room for myelin. Why Do We Lose 50% of Our Brain Cells? To make room for myelin.

9. Myelin = Processing Speed Myelin = Processing Speed

10. USE IT OR LOSE IT PRINCIPLE USE IT OR LOSE IT PRINCIPLE • Pruning (Apoptosis) clears out unneeded wiring to make way for more efficient and faster information-processing (thicker myelin)

12. Prefrontal Cortex : Directs our judgment & decision- making (rational, mature thinking) Amygdala : Directs our emotional response (immaturity)

13. What is Amygdala Thinking? • Fight, Flight, Freeze Survival Mode • All or Nothing: Concrete • Based on fear or anger reactions • Ignited by real or perceived threats • Begins adrenaline cycle

14. Prefrontal Cortex Thinking: Executive Function Skills • Abstract; conceptual understanding • Impulse Control • Problem-Solving • Decision-Making • Judgment • Emotion Regulation • Frustration Tolerance • Ability to Feel Empathy

16. What DOES This Mean? Adolescents on average are more: • Impulsive • Aggressive • Emotionally volatile • Likely to take risks • Vulnerable to peer pressure • Prone to focus on & overestimate short-term payoffs and underplay longer-term consequences of what they do • Likely to overlook alternative courses of action

18. Do you think parents are justified in being their teen ’ s prefrontal cortex until it is fully developed? When is your teen ’ s PFC on? When does your teen ’ s amygdala take over? Do you think teens underestimate the negative consequences of high-risk behavior? Why? What does all this mean to you? What does all this mean to you?

19. Amazing Statistics Amazing Statistics Students who wait to use drugs or alcohol until age 21, are likely NEVER to have problems with addiction during their lifetime. Students who have a genetic predisposition to addiction and wait to use until age 21, are 40% less likely to have problems with addiction. SAMSHA, 2012 WHY? WHY?