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Teens’ Brain Growth and Behavior
Linked
Some
Teens Emotions are Developing Faster Than the Parts of Their Brains
that Manage Those Emotions.
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A recent study of 137
teens in Australia, studied the brain structure of teens who often
fight with their parents, and teens who are laid back. The study
placed the teens and their parents in 20 minute problem-solving
interactions. These PSI’s were based on a list of 44 topics which
teens and adults often disagree on, such as “teens talking back to
an adult,” or “adolescent lying.” Each teen was recorded discussing
these contentious issues with a parent, and researchers found that
the parts of the brain that focus on emotional responses were
developing slower in the teens who did not fight with their parents,
and those same parts of the brain were developing at a more rapid
rate in the teens who seemed aggressive towards their parents.
Increased duration of aggressive behaviors was also associated with
a larger amygdale chemical volume. (Increased amygdala activity has
previously been reported in aggressive adults.) Differences were
also noted in male and female brain development, where females were
often less aggressive than males. Lead researcher Nicholas Allen of
the University of Melbourne said that the teen’s “emotions are
developing much faster than are the parts of the brain that help
them to manage those emotions.”
Prefrontal and
amygdala volumes are related to adolescents’ affective behaviors
during parent-adolescent interactions,
PNAS vol. 105 no. 9
March 4, 2008; pp. 3652-3657
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