The troublesome "brain" of adolescence actually comes from the adolescent brain second part

The second part
First of all, we all know that the memory ability of teenagers is generally stronger than that of adults. This is thanks to the part of the limbic system just mentioned called the hippocampus. It's called the hippocampus because it looks like a small hippocampus. Of course, being cute is just a bonus. The most powerful part of the hippocampus is that it can influence our memory ability. Compared with the adult hippocampus, the hippocampus of adolescents is more active, which may explain why adolescents carry things on their backs much faster than adults.

Secondly, the outstanding learning ability of young people involves a "brain plasticity theory" widely circulated in the academic circle. Brain plasticity theory argues that our brains are not innately programmed, but are shaped by the environment. Psychologists once raised a young chimpanzee in the dark and found that the chimpanzee's retina and neurons that make up the optic nerve atrophy. They also found that the atrophy was reversible if visual deprivation did not exceed 7 months. But after a year, the poor chimpanzee will be permanently blind.

This experiment shows that during individual development, the brain can be reshaped by the external environment, and the earlier the time, the stronger this plasticity. Scientists call it "Neural Darwinism," meaning that like all biological evolution, the brain follows certain evolutionary principles. In the human brain, neurons that don't get the proper stimulation will forever lose their chance to grow. And the neurons that are continuously stimulated, they become more and more powerful. As early as when we are born, the vast majority of brain cells have already been generated, but many brain cells are not yet connected. As we age, the connections between neurons become stronger. That is to say, to a certain extent, the growth and development of the brain is the result of the continuous connection between neurons. Learning is a process of receiving stimulation, establishing neural connections, and continuously strengthening it. Therefore, human learning behavior is the embodiment of brain plasticity.

The brain can be divided into four regions, which are responsible for different functions. In order from back to front, they are the occipital lobe on the back of the head, the temporal lobe behind the ears on both sides, and the parietal lobe on the top of the head and the frontal lobe on the forehead. The names of these areas are very characteristic, and you will remember their locations if you remember the names. Why introduce it from the back to the front? This order is important. Because research shows that the brain develops in a back-to-front order. The occipital and temporal lobes, located in the posterior region, are the visual and auditory centers of the brain and are fully developed during adolescence. The parietal and frontal lobes of the anterior region, which are responsible for sensory motor functions in the body and cognitive functions in the brain respectively, do not fully develop until the end of adolescence.

Now, let's talk about what troubles the underdevelopment of the parietal and frontal lobes can bring us.

Let's talk about the top of the head first. Mature parietal lobes give people the ability to switch between multiple tasks. With it, a person can do multiple things at the same time, which is what we often call multitasking. Multitasking here doesn’t mean we drive while chewing gum, because chewing gum doesn’t require our cognitive attention, it can be done automatically. But "driving while talking on the phone" is typical of multitasking. A mature parietal lobe can help us allocate attention and energy reasonably, and can handle both things in an orderly manner.

Of course, as a reminder, it's best not to do this, because even adults have limited cognitive resources in the brain. For adolescent children, it is even more cautious. Because the parietal lobes are immature, they have difficulty multitasking and are easily distracted by other distractions. Nearly 6,000 teens die in car crashes each year in the United States, and 87% of them die from inattentive driving.

After talking about the parietal lobe, let's take a look at the frontal lobe of the forehead. The frontal lobe is the "command" of the entire brain, responsible for cognition and decision-making. Insufficient development of the frontal lobes will lead to a lot of problems in teenagers. For example, because of the lack of ability to predict risks, teenagers often do things recklessly; and the lack of self-control will make it difficult for teenagers to resist the temptation of the outside world with reason. prone to mistakes and bad habits. Even if they realize they made a mistake, it is difficult for teens to learn the lesson as quickly as adults and avoid the same mistakes from happening again. Sometimes, parents always think that teenagers know their mistakes and make mistakes and never change them, thinking that they are deliberately going against themselves. But in fact, the teenagers themselves are confused, and the frontal lobe is the initiator behind.