THE AMAZING TEENAGE BRAIN
Birge-Bytes: "We are the miracle of force and matter making itself over
into imagination and will. Incredible.The Life Force experimenting with
forms.... You for one. Me for another. The Universe has shouted itself
alive! WE ARE ONE OF THE "SHOUTS"!! Ray Bradbury (SF author)
A few interesting facts:
(1) The average 3 lb, give or take an ounce, human brain is a LIVING
organ with 100 BILLION CELLS!
(2)IT MOVES!!! Every time you learn something you didn't know before
you have formed a NEW "connection" and there are a QUADRILLION
(1,000,000,000,000,000)of them in an "average" brain.
(3) it works using electrical and chemical messages.
(4)YOUR brain can hold enough information EQUAL to a Football Field of Computers...
(5) The human brain is the most complex structure in the known Universe.
THE TEENAGE BRAIN IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER AGE GROUP...
(come on...YOU knew that....or suspected it as a parent!)
In the time it took you to read the statement above...your brain formed a
new connection to absorb the new idea...every question changes it....
There are TWO times in our lifespan that our brain undergoes major changes...at BIRTH and at Adolescence (13-19).
O.k. HOW many of you out there think a baby just babbles on and has
gas pain smiles and twitches! In the womb the number of brain connections rise very rapidly so much so that at BIRTH, the baby has an
ADULTS Level of connections possible; increases even more by 1-2 years of age(2 X's)more. It is almost as if we are given every possible advantage to learn to survive. It levels off after that to an ADULT level
and has "pruned" out the unworkable or ineffective connections.
ADOLESCENCE: 13-19
At Puberty, along with the favorite teen hormones we all know and love...
comes a totally FRESH batch of neurochemicals, branches & roots(called "Gray Matter")It is a raw and very vulnerable time for the
brain AND THE ABSOLUTE WORST TIME POSSIBLE FOR DRUGS AND ALCOHOL to enter the brain.(I am NOT sermonizing...it is FACT)
Science & medicine used to believe the child was "hard-wired" and ready
to learn by age 3 and certainly by age 6 and school. This was before the invention of the MRI machine and we could study a "live,thinking" brain.
There are three areas of the Teenage Brain that are NOT COMPLETED until the Mid-twenties or even later!!!!!!
I. The Parietal Lobes: Logic and Spatial-reasoning.
2. The Temporal Lobes: Language skills
3. The Frontal Lobe: Decision-making, maturity & non-risk behaviors.
Hellooooooo, people! What do we rag on them about a LOT is bad choices, maturity and making safe decisions.
They are a Masterpiece in Process but NOT DONE YET!
They need educated understanding parents that set fair rules, are
consistent with them and MUCH LOVE.
p.s. They are also wonderful, more open-minded, social and creative.
They grapple daily with honesty and justice and other abstract concepts
of empathy, exuberance and passion. I have adored many teenagers
cause I look for what they do right in a rough world.
Mrs.B.Birge
into imagination and will. Incredible.The Life Force experimenting with
forms.... You for one. Me for another. The Universe has shouted itself
alive! WE ARE ONE OF THE "SHOUTS"!! Ray Bradbury (SF author)
A few interesting facts:
(1) The average 3 lb, give or take an ounce, human brain is a LIVING
organ with 100 BILLION CELLS!
(2)IT MOVES!!! Every time you learn something you didn't know before
you have formed a NEW "connection" and there are a QUADRILLION
(1,000,000,000,000,000)of them in an "average" brain.
(3) it works using electrical and chemical messages.
(4)YOUR brain can hold enough information EQUAL to a Football Field of Computers...
(5) The human brain is the most complex structure in the known Universe.
THE TEENAGE BRAIN IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER AGE GROUP...
(come on...YOU knew that....or suspected it as a parent!)
In the time it took you to read the statement above...your brain formed a
new connection to absorb the new idea...every question changes it....
There are TWO times in our lifespan that our brain undergoes major changes...at BIRTH and at Adolescence (13-19).
O.k. HOW many of you out there think a baby just babbles on and has
gas pain smiles and twitches! In the womb the number of brain connections rise very rapidly so much so that at BIRTH, the baby has an
ADULTS Level of connections possible; increases even more by 1-2 years of age(2 X's)more. It is almost as if we are given every possible advantage to learn to survive. It levels off after that to an ADULT level
and has "pruned" out the unworkable or ineffective connections.
ADOLESCENCE: 13-19
At Puberty, along with the favorite teen hormones we all know and love...
comes a totally FRESH batch of neurochemicals, branches & roots(called "Gray Matter")It is a raw and very vulnerable time for the
brain AND THE ABSOLUTE WORST TIME POSSIBLE FOR DRUGS AND ALCOHOL to enter the brain.(I am NOT sermonizing...it is FACT)
Science & medicine used to believe the child was "hard-wired" and ready
to learn by age 3 and certainly by age 6 and school. This was before the invention of the MRI machine and we could study a "live,thinking" brain.
There are three areas of the Teenage Brain that are NOT COMPLETED until the Mid-twenties or even later!!!!!!
I. The Parietal Lobes: Logic and Spatial-reasoning.
2. The Temporal Lobes: Language skills
3. The Frontal Lobe: Decision-making, maturity & non-risk behaviors.
Hellooooooo, people! What do we rag on them about a LOT is bad choices, maturity and making safe decisions.
They are a Masterpiece in Process but NOT DONE YET!
They need educated understanding parents that set fair rules, are
consistent with them and MUCH LOVE.
p.s. They are also wonderful, more open-minded, social and creative.
They grapple daily with honesty and justice and other abstract concepts
of empathy, exuberance and passion. I have adored many teenagers
cause I look for what they do right in a rough world.
Mrs.B.Birge
