Page 166 - Meeting with Children Book

P a ge | 164

than do the brains of younger children and adults to
emotionally laden images. Brain circuitry continues to
change during the teen years. Age-related contributors to
this include reproductive hormones. The brain is activated
through experience, urgency and intensity of emotional
reactions. Additionally, Adolescents and adults engage
different parts of the brain related to tests requiring
calculation and impulse control and emotional content.

Overall, there is still much to learn about the adolescent
brain. Although the adolescent has developed emotional
responses similar to the adult, the main difference is
impulse control. There is a very high capacity for learning,
and exploration and limit-testing in adolescents. Adult
brains are better wired to notice errors in decision-making.
A teenager's brain is well-developed in the area of pleasure-
seeking and reward. Of interest is imaging studies that
compared brain activity when the subject received a small,
medium or large reward, teenagers exhibited exaggerated
responses to medium and large rewards compared to
children and adults (Powell). The still forming prefrontal
cortex in combination with a strong desire for reward helps
to explain stereotypical teenage behavior.

What can be expected from a normally
developing 13-18 year old?
In summary, the following items are offered for
observation purposes:
13 -18 yrs Adolescents demonstrate new
thinking skills - there is duality of
adolescent competence - and
more decision-making skills with
high emotionality