Teens Help Decide How Their Brains 'Wire'
Teens, through their choices and actions, have the power to direct the development of their own brains.
- Dr. Jay Giedd
The brain is more powerful than any computer ever made. New scientific discoveries, which allow us to see inside the brain as it works, have given us new valuable information in how the brain works and what can harm it. The brain is divided into different specialized areas that all work at the same time. Each brain area governs different parts of the body and has its own specific neural communication network. These SPECT images show functional activity levels in the brain.
The brain is made of more than 100 billion nerve cells called neurons which send electrical and chemical signals to communicate with other neurons. Every thought, every emotion, and every action is made possible because neurons communicate with each other. Each time something new is learned or experienced, neurons form new connections between themselves.
Eventually, the connection becomes a dominate pathway for the brain to quickly think, feel, or act. This process is called "wiring" your brain.
As a teen matures, the pathway develops a type of insulation that protects brain wiring. This "myelin sheath" increases the speed at which electrical signals travel along the pathway so that thinking and doing things is faster and easier.
About 40% of brain neurons are already communicating or "wired" at birth. The other 60% are waiting for outside stimulation to make their neural connections. What we choose to think, feel, experience or do becomes wired into the physical structure of our brain and becomes part of our character or identity - who we are.
Kids who 'exercise' their brains by learning to order their thoughts. understand abstract concepts, and control their impulses are laying the neural foundations that will serve them for the rest of their lives.
- Dr. Jay Giedd
There are important periods of time when the brain is pre-programmed to increase the brain chemicals that allow the brain to make more neural connections. "Plasticity" refers to the brain's ability to physically change its structure.
The brain is pre-programmed to wire specific areas of the brain at specific times in life. One of the key brain wiring periods takes place during the ages of 12-24 years. Research shows that drinking alcohol during this period of time can disrupt and harm brain wiring.
Two brain areas that must be wired during the teen years for a person to become a responsible, caring, thoughtful adult are the "prefrontal cortex" and the "hippocampus".
The prefrontal cortex helps us avoid antisocial behavior and become a thoughtful, responsible adult. Damage to this area can result in bad decision making, lack of impulse control, relationship problems, or risky behaviors.
The hippocampus part of the brain is responsible for learning and memory. Underdevelopment of this area can result in a bad memory, poor test scores and not being able to learn things well.
Alcohol is a chemical which, if consumed before the brain is fully developed, interferes with chemical neurotransmitters and damages the brain neuron wiring. Alcohol can cause brain activity to slow or shut down, thus keeping a teen brain from making connections and properly wiring.
In addition to damaging the good judgment and memory areas of the brain, drinking alcohol under the age of 21 can also program the brain to become addicted to alcohol.
Drinking alcohol before the age of 21 can actually harm brain development
and can cause permanent damage.
SOURCE: Teaching Tools, ParentsEmpowered.Org
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BRAINS
