Page 44 - Waterfall City Issue 12 2022

Waterfall City Today’s Child

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

42 Waterfall City Issue 12 2022