Are Teens More Rational Than Adults?
The human brain is a complex organ that serves as the center of the nervous system. It is made up of over 100 billion nerves that (with the cortex and other parts of the brain) help communicate throughout the body. By sending signals to different parts of your body, the brain communicates and is the main control centre.”Grey matter contains most of the brain's neurons, and it plays an important role in emotions, memory, decision-making, and self-control”(Kennedy 1). When establishing thoughts and emotions, neurons play a role alongside the hippocampus. The development of neural connections is greatest during childhood and in adolescents. Different parts of the brain develop at different rates, some fast, …show more content…
The teen brain still needs to develop and mature even at the age of 18. “The frontal section of the brain, which helps people plan and make decisions, continues developing until people reach their early 20s”(Kennedy 1).The rational part of the brain doesn’t fully reach its peak until around the age of 25. In Jon Hamilton’s “Teenage brains are malleable and vulnerable, researchers say”, Jay Giedd states, “rapid changes in the brains of teenagers make these years a time of enormous opportunity”(Hamilton 2). The statement is referring to the idea that during teen years, teens are very sensitive and prone to large changes in the brain’s functionality. Whilst many adults have already passed this stage, therefore they aren’t as easily vulnerable. The teen brain is very capable of being rational ,but at the same time it can be as easily influenced. As explained by Sheryl Feinstein in Robin Nixon’s “Adolescent angst: 5 facts about the teen brain”, “in the heat of the moment, their decision-making can be overly influenced by emotions, because their brains rely more on the limbic system than the more rational prefrontal cortex”(Nixon 1). The social world that most teens are involved in can indeed play a role in these “influences”. “As teens become better at thinking abstractly, their social anxiety increases”(Nixon 2). Relatable in some cases as when most teens are confronted about their negative action(s), they …show more content…
Brain development is what determines if a person is capable, for example, of decision-making and problem solving. In Richard Friedman’s “Return of the teenage brain”, he states, “the neural circuits that help give rise to mental states and behaviors are being sculpted and are particularly sensitive to the effects of experience”(Friedman 1). Since the development of neural connections is greatest during adolescence and one's childhood, they are more prone to these changes than someone that has past his/her formative years. Since they are still young and have not reached their “peak” in brain development/growth, they’re not fully ready or capable when compared to someone who is. Others also may argue that it’s experience that determines if a teen can think rational or not. That may be true, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still vulnerable because their brain is more vulnerable to external stresses. As explained in “The Teen Brain” by Debra Bradley Ruder, “teen brains are more susceptible than their adult counterparts to alcohol-induced toxicity”(Ruder 2). During an experiment done with rat brain cells, “when the alcohol was washed out, the adult cells recovered while adolescent cells remained disabled”(Ruder 2). Jensen also mentions a “recent study showing how sensory overload can hinder undergraduates’ ability to recall words”. For
The human brain is a complex organ that serves as the center of the nervous system. It is made up of over 100 billion nerves that (with the cortex and other parts of the brain) help communicate throughout the body. By sending signals to different parts of your body, the brain communicates and is the main control centre.”Grey matter contains most of the brain's neurons, and it plays an important role in emotions, memory, decision-making, and self-control”(Kennedy 1). When establishing thoughts and emotions, neurons play a role alongside the hippocampus. The development of neural connections is greatest during childhood and in adolescents. Different parts of the brain develop at different rates, some fast, …show more content…
The teen brain still needs to develop and mature even at the age of 18. “The frontal section of the brain, which helps people plan and make decisions, continues developing until people reach their early 20s”(Kennedy 1).The rational part of the brain doesn’t fully reach its peak until around the age of 25. In Jon Hamilton’s “Teenage brains are malleable and vulnerable, researchers say”, Jay Giedd states, “rapid changes in the brains of teenagers make these years a time of enormous opportunity”(Hamilton 2). The statement is referring to the idea that during teen years, teens are very sensitive and prone to large changes in the brain’s functionality. Whilst many adults have already passed this stage, therefore they aren’t as easily vulnerable. The teen brain is very capable of being rational ,but at the same time it can be as easily influenced. As explained by Sheryl Feinstein in Robin Nixon’s “Adolescent angst: 5 facts about the teen brain”, “in the heat of the moment, their decision-making can be overly influenced by emotions, because their brains rely more on the limbic system than the more rational prefrontal cortex”(Nixon 1). The social world that most teens are involved in can indeed play a role in these “influences”. “As teens become better at thinking abstractly, their social anxiety increases”(Nixon 2). Relatable in some cases as when most teens are confronted about their negative action(s), they …show more content…
Brain development is what determines if a person is capable, for example, of decision-making and problem solving. In Richard Friedman’s “Return of the teenage brain”, he states, “the neural circuits that help give rise to mental states and behaviors are being sculpted and are particularly sensitive to the effects of experience”(Friedman 1). Since the development of neural connections is greatest during adolescence and one's childhood, they are more prone to these changes than someone that has past his/her formative years. Since they are still young and have not reached their “peak” in brain development/growth, they’re not fully ready or capable when compared to someone who is. Others also may argue that it’s experience that determines if a teen can think rational or not. That may be true, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still vulnerable because their brain is more vulnerable to external stresses. As explained in “The Teen Brain” by Debra Bradley Ruder, “teen brains are more susceptible than their adult counterparts to alcohol-induced toxicity”(Ruder 2). During an experiment done with rat brain cells, “when the alcohol was washed out, the adult cells recovered while adolescent cells remained disabled”(Ruder 2). Jensen also mentions a “recent study showing how sensory overload can hinder undergraduates’ ability to recall words”. For