Page 16 - Dainfern Precinct Living Issue 2_2023

Today's Child

falls later in the day than in adults. This in teenagers compared to adults will help a teen understand what kind of
explains teens being able to party till the and younger children. Dopamine is partner they want in life.
early hours of the morning. associated with pleasure and curiosity.
This is why teens are more likely to try Adolescents today are growing up in a
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT new experiences. more open society, aided and abetted
From the day we are born and in large part by technology. Thanks
throughout our childhood, the brain The willingness to try out new things can to digital advancement, their access
builds connections between neurons. be positive as it enables the teenager to to the wider world is immediate and
It then starts to prune back (remove) focus on their personal development, communication takes place at the touch
redundant neural pathways, allowing for assess their boundaries and acquire of a button. It’s also a time of invention,
more efficient networks. This process decision-making skills. For example, flux and creativity, where new ways of
makes a child’s brain particularly embarking on a romantic relationship interacting and learning are occurring at
malleable and enables a baby to grow
into a toddler.

Certain perceptual and motor skills such
as language are stabilised long before
adolescence, making these skills harder
to learn after this childhood phase.

Still, the frontal cortex continues to build
and prune networks throughout puberty
and into early adulthood. Frontal and
parietal lobe development continues
and appears as increasing amounts
of white matter on MRI scans. These
developing areas are important for
enabling a person to regulate emotions,
problem-solve, maintain attention and
engage in abstract reasoning. Intellectual
stimulation is vital at this age, when
there is huge capacity for learning.
Brain imaging shows that the areas
of the brain associated with reward
generally develop more quickly than
those associated with inhibitions and Photo by Aliott Reyna
self-control – which explains a lot! The
scans show greater dopamine activity

14 DPL issue 2 2022
8 DPL issue 5 2022