Critical Thinking, Self-Control and the Changing Teenage Brain (Part 2)
In part I of this series, we discussed how the prefrontal cortex area (PFC) of the brain undergoes a time of great synaptic growth and pruning during adolescence.
Due to these changes, the adolescent years are a time of tremendous flexibility when young people can choose to develop their frontal lobe in many different possible ways.
That the PFC is so flexible as to its development in adolescence is made even more important with the understanding that the PFC is where critical life-skills such as showing good judgment, self-control and reasoning ability originate from (Crews, He, & Hodge, 2006).
Consequently, the preteen and early teenage years may be a key time to practice these skills.
As Jay Giedd (neuroscience researcher) says, synaptic growth and pruning could be a period when you either "use it or lose it" in regards to neural connections (Spinks, 2002).
So how does a parent best take advantage of this period? In regards to showing good judgment and self-control, one way may be to gradually allow young people to make more decisions on their own under your guidance.
For example, instead of telling your child she has to be home by 10:00 each night, it may be more beneficial if you have a conversation and allow her to help decide when her curfew should be.
In this conversation, she would have to weigh such factors as the fun she wants to have with her friends against the proper amount of sleep she needs for school.
Practice at making these decisions during synaptic pruning may help develop the neurological pathways that will allow her to make better choices later as an adult.
The same principle of practice, practice, practice is likely the key for developing higher order thinking and logic as well.
Exposing your child to lots of different logic games and problem solving strategies may help that part of their PFC to develop.
In addition, some research is beginning to show that young people may be able to improve their reasoning ability by receiving training in how to exclude non-relevant information, how to summarize key ideas in one's own words and how to link new information to known information in the mind (Gamino & Chapman, 2011).
These strategies seem to help young people to organize new information more efficiently in their heads, allowing them to access it more readily, which may in turn make it easier to use that information for reasoning.
In conclusion, during adolescence the brain is in a flexible state and can be shaped to develop many different kinds of skills.
According to Giedd "This argues for doing a lot of things as a teenager.
You are hard-wiring your brain in adolescence.
Do you want to hard-wire it for sports and playing music and doing mathematics--or for lying on the couch in front of the television?" The PFC is especially flexible during this time and is home to some of the most important skills for life success.
Practicing using those skills may be the best way to help your child's development.
Works Cited Crews, F.
, He, J.
, & Hodge, C.
(2006).
Adolescent cortical development: a critical period of vulnerability for addiction.
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 86, 189-199.
Gamino, J.
F.
, Chapman, S.
B.
(2011).
U.
S.
Patent No.
WO/2011/031530.
Washington, DC: U.
S.
Patent and Trademark Office.
Spinks, S.
(2002).
Adolescent brains are a work in progress: here's why.
Frontline, Retrieved from http://www.
pbs.
org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/interviews/giedd.
html © 2012 All Rights Reserved
Due to these changes, the adolescent years are a time of tremendous flexibility when young people can choose to develop their frontal lobe in many different possible ways.
That the PFC is so flexible as to its development in adolescence is made even more important with the understanding that the PFC is where critical life-skills such as showing good judgment, self-control and reasoning ability originate from (Crews, He, & Hodge, 2006).
Consequently, the preteen and early teenage years may be a key time to practice these skills.
As Jay Giedd (neuroscience researcher) says, synaptic growth and pruning could be a period when you either "use it or lose it" in regards to neural connections (Spinks, 2002).
So how does a parent best take advantage of this period? In regards to showing good judgment and self-control, one way may be to gradually allow young people to make more decisions on their own under your guidance.
For example, instead of telling your child she has to be home by 10:00 each night, it may be more beneficial if you have a conversation and allow her to help decide when her curfew should be.
In this conversation, she would have to weigh such factors as the fun she wants to have with her friends against the proper amount of sleep she needs for school.
Practice at making these decisions during synaptic pruning may help develop the neurological pathways that will allow her to make better choices later as an adult.
The same principle of practice, practice, practice is likely the key for developing higher order thinking and logic as well.
Exposing your child to lots of different logic games and problem solving strategies may help that part of their PFC to develop.
In addition, some research is beginning to show that young people may be able to improve their reasoning ability by receiving training in how to exclude non-relevant information, how to summarize key ideas in one's own words and how to link new information to known information in the mind (Gamino & Chapman, 2011).
These strategies seem to help young people to organize new information more efficiently in their heads, allowing them to access it more readily, which may in turn make it easier to use that information for reasoning.
In conclusion, during adolescence the brain is in a flexible state and can be shaped to develop many different kinds of skills.
According to Giedd "This argues for doing a lot of things as a teenager.
You are hard-wiring your brain in adolescence.
Do you want to hard-wire it for sports and playing music and doing mathematics--or for lying on the couch in front of the television?" The PFC is especially flexible during this time and is home to some of the most important skills for life success.
Practicing using those skills may be the best way to help your child's development.
Works Cited Crews, F.
, He, J.
, & Hodge, C.
(2006).
Adolescent cortical development: a critical period of vulnerability for addiction.
Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 86, 189-199.
Gamino, J.
F.
, Chapman, S.
B.
(2011).
U.
S.
Patent No.
WO/2011/031530.
Washington, DC: U.
S.
Patent and Trademark Office.
Spinks, S.
(2002).
Adolescent brains are a work in progress: here's why.
Frontline, Retrieved from http://www.
pbs.
org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/interviews/giedd.
html © 2012 All Rights Reserved