Page 24 - Boardwalk Meander Issue 5 2022
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TODAY’S CHILD
Brain development attention and engage in abstract Adolescents today are growing up in a
From the day we are born and reasoning. Intellectual stimulation is more open society, aided and abetted
throughout our childhood, the vital at this age, when there is huge in large part by technology. Thanks
brain builds connections between capacity for learning. to digital advancement, their access
neurons. It then starts to prune to the wider world is immediate and
back (remove) redundant neural Brain imaging shows that the areas communication takes place at the
pathways, allowing for more of the brain associated with reward touch of a button. It’s also a time of
efficient networks. This process generally develop more quickly than invention, flux and creativity, where
makes a child’s brain particularly those associated with inhibitions new ways of interacting and learning
malleable and enables a baby to and self-control – which explains are occurring at breakneck speed.
grow into a toddler. a lot! The scans show greater This poses questions about how best
dopamine activity in teenagers we can parent and guide our children.
Certain perceptual and motor skills compared to adults and younger It also means that studying in the
such as language are stabilised children. Dopamine is associated traditional ways may not apply in the
long before adolescence, making with pleasure and curiosity. This near future.
these skills harder to learn after this explains why teens are more likely to
childhood phase. try new experiences. In addition, research shows that
teenagers experience increased
Still, the frontal cortex continues The willingness to try out new activity in the medial prefrontal
to build and prune networks things can be positive as it enables cortex. This area of the brain is
throughout puberty and into early the teenager to focus on their related to self-evaluation and has
adulthood. Frontal and parietal personal development, assess to do with how we interact with
lobe development continues and their boundaries and acquire and respond to others. While it’s
appears as increasing amounts of decision-making skills. For important for teenagers to form
white matter on MRI scans. These example, embarking on a romantic friendships, interacting with others
developing areas are important relationship will help a teen can be difficult, especially for teens
for enabling a person to regulate understand what kind of partner subjected to peer pressure and those
emotions, problem-solve, maintain they want in life. who suffer from social anxiety.
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Boardwalk Meander Estate Issue 5 · 2022
