Article #9 Teen Brain

Source Citation:
"The Teen Brain: Behavior, Problem Solving, and Decision Making." American
Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. N.p., Sept. 2009. Web. 12 Apr.
2010.

I am coming near the end of the research part of this project but their was something that I still wanted to learn a little bit more about--the teenage brain. I talked a little bit about this in the beginning but I wanted some more information because I thought it would help me understand why people are against medical emancipation in minors. While reading their are some pretty strong facts that support the counter agreement of my paper but I am going to try and use some of my facts to support my research. The teen age brain is a very interesting thing and it is also very complex. I really believe that if I get a better understanding of how the teen brain works in comparison to the adult brain it will help me understand my topic more. Some interesting facts I learned are stated below:
1. Brains continue to grow and develop even into early adulthood.
2. In the brain their is a part called the amygdale. it forms very early at birth and it is responsible for spur of the moment decisions and the frontal cortex which helps you make reasonable decision doesn’t start forming until later.
3. As you can probably tell teenagers brains function more in the amygdala.
4. Even though the brains function differently that does not mean young people cannot make good decisions and it also does not mean that they don’t know the difference between right and wrong.

Driving teenage years the brain is very open to change and can handle it well. this is an advantage because it is easier to teach a child than adult so with that being said it would be easier to train a child how to make proper decisions[about their health] than it would be at a later age. Some people may look at these things as negative effects of being a teenager but I look at them as opportunities to be better.