Why Do They Act That Way?

A Survival Guide to the Adolescent Brain for You and

Your Teen By David Walsh, Ph.D.

A Little

Brain Science

NEURONS (Tế Bào Thần Kinh)

The Building Blocks of the brain

A baby arrives in this world with about 100 billion neurons. Each of which has

an average of 10 thousand branches

The number of possible neural configurations is said to possibly

exceed the number of atoms(Nguyên tử) in the known universe!

At birth only about 17 percent of our neurons are linked …

… The rest are linked by … Genetics (hardware) & Experiences (software)

The language we will speak (soft wiring =

experiences)

Our ability to make sounds (hard wiring = genetics)

LEFT SIDE : Analytical Math, speaking, writing, reading

RIGHT SIDE : Intuitive, Visual processing, abstract thinking, listening to

music, daydreaming, imagining a beautiful sunset

5 Processes (pillars) of Brain Development

• Use it or lose it • Blossoming and pruning • Window of opportunity • Window of sensitivity • Myelination (insulation of nerve cells)

The neurons that fire together wire together.

Blossoming and Pruning

• Each region has different function and timetable

•Process: –Over production of dendrites (blossoming) –Life experiences causes neurons to fire and connect branches –Branches that don’t fire shrink, wither and disappear (pruning) –use it or lose it

MRI Brain Scanning Technology

•Has shown us that one phase of blossoming pruning winds down (in the ‘terrible twos’)

•Second wave corresponds with adolescence

•Blossoming peaks in PFC at age 11 or 12 •Pruning process continues throughout

adolescence