The Brain’s Influence on Teenage Behavior When you talk to a teenager, have you ever wondered why, why did they make that decision, or perhaps, what influenced that decision? Many factors go into why teens make some of the choices they make, but a huge one is the teenage brain. Teenager’s brains are still growing. These growth cause the teens to make decisions that could be very irrational or beneficial. Counselors need to know what elements causes the decisions so they can better understand their student and be better at their job.
The undeveloped prefrontal cortex, environmental factors, and the reward system influences some of the decisions that the teens make and how it the teen responses to life. Teenagers are known to make bad decisions, but that may be because the prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed. According to the article, Are Teenage Brains Really Different from Adult Brains, by Molly Edmonds, “The prefrontal cortex is the section of the brain that weighs outcomes, form judgments, and controls impulses and emotions… the prefrontal cortex may not fully develop until your mid-20s. In your teen years you don’t have as much control on your good judgement and because it is not fully developed, teenagers make more impulsive decisions that lead to consequences later in the future. This is important for counselors to know this because they need to expect that teens aren’t going to make the smartest choices but there prefrontal cortex is a huge factor in that. For instance, in the play Romeo and Juliet, after Tybalt killed Mercutio, Romeo acted on instinct and killed Tybalt without thinking of the consequences that were going to happen.
Right after he killed him he realized what he had done and noticed his error and said, “O, I am fortune’s fool. “(3. 1-133) Like Romeo a lot of teens don’t realize that they are doing something wrong and are relying on their impulsive decisions. Are Teenage Brains Really Different From Adult Brains, explains that, “Adult brains are also wired to notice errors in decision making… Before 80 milliseconds had passed, adult brains had noticed the blunder, but teenage brains haven’t noticed any slip ups. Counselors need to know that teens don’t always make the decisions knowing they are bad, they may not realize they are doing something wrong until after it has happened. Due to the brain changing constantly, the environmental factors around them, like family problems, sleep, and stress can affect the teen positively or negatively by the way they respond to it.
The National Institute of Mental Health, The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction, explains that some factors that influence different brain growth include, “inborn traits, personal history, family, friends, community, and culture. Knowing these components, we can better understand some of the teenagers behaviors. If a teen is having family problems it could cause depression, or even suicidal thoughts. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, the conflict between their families made it so they couldn’t be together and love each other. That rivalry caused both Romeo and Juliet to commit suicide so they could be together. As a counselor, knowing these family issues could help you better understand what is going on with the teen causing some of the irrational behaviors. Another factor that can influence teens is sleep.
According to Teens, Neuroscience, and Society, “sleep’s role in learning and memory is a major topic of active research, and these links may influence the developing teen. ” Counselors need to know that sleep is a very important for the developing brain and to let their students know as well. The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction, supports this by saying, “attention, inadequate sleep is a powerful contributor to irritability and depression. ” Some of the teens problems is mainly because of sleep. Lack of sleep could cause depression that doesn’t even need to be there and may only exist because they are tired.
As a counselor, you need to know this because sometimes you just need to tell the teen to get more sleep because it could help the developing brain, help concentration, and stop the unwanted depression. The Teen Brain: Still Under Construction, also says that lack of sleep could cause,”sleep deprivation, such as fatigue and difficulty maintaining attention. ” Attention to detail could cause some bad choices because they are not thinking things all the way through. A final environmental factor that may change the teenage brain is stress.
According to an interview from Stress Is More Stressful for Teens Than Adults, “When you are stressed out as a teenager, it’s interfering with your ability to make decisions’ Galvan said. “It’s interfering with how the brain functions in regions that are still developing, mainly the reward system and the prefrontal cortex. ” Like Galvan said, stress interferes with teens ability to make the right decisions. If a teen is stressed out they might be entirely focussed on what they are doing and could make a mistake in what they are doing or make a very poor decision.
Teens feed off of rewards, when a teen gets something they like, it triggers their brain’s reward system. The brain’s reward system could be a good thing, but if a teen is involved in alcohol or drugs, it could be very bad or even fatal. In the video “Insight into the Teenage Brain” by Adriana Galvan, she did a study on the reward system of the teen brain. One of the key points she wanted us to go home with is that “the teenage brain gets really excited about rewards, emotions, and new experiences. ” Teens tend to get over happy when it comes to things they like.
If a teen is really inspired to get a reward, it doesn’t always have to be a bad thing, they could be striving to reach a goal, but if the teen experiences something they like that is not safe it could lead to themselves or others getting hurt or other consequences. Are Teenage Brains Really Different from Adult Brains, support Adriana Galvan by saying, “In imagining studies that compared brain activity when the subject receives a small, medium, or large reward, teenagers exhibited exaggerated response to… large rewards compared to children results.
But why does that matter for counselors? They need to know that because teens will sometimes do anything to get a reward they desire whether it be a thrill risk or even alcohol and drugs. Are Teenage Brain Really Different from Adult Brains, explains that, “teenagers may try these things because they’re seeking a buzz to satisfy that reward-center, while their prefrontal cortex can’t register all the risks. ” Teens are continuing to do things that aren’t the best for them just because they want that reward. One example is alcohol.
Are Teenage Brains really Different from Adult Brains say, “studies have shown that teenagers are more likely to become addicted to alcohol and drugs. ” Alcohol and drugs may appeal to some teens reward systems. Once they have it for the first time and they can get addicted, the reward system begins to constantly want that alcohol or drug. and when they do receive it their reward system goes crazy. As a counselor constantly push to not have your student have alcohol. If teens are most likely the ones that are going to get addicted to alcohol they are going to experience the consequences later in the future.
In conclusion, the undeveloped prefrontal cortex, environmental factors, and the reward system affects the decisions they make and help the brain develop to what it’s going to be in adulthood. But why does counselors need to know this? They need to know this so they could better understand the teen they are dealing with. If they understand some of the factors that may influence the teen to make a poor decision it will be easier for the counselors to fix the problem so it will hopefully not happen again. If counselors better understand these factors then it could make their job and a teenagers life a little better.