The Child And Adolescent Brain: Understanding The Concepts And Applications In Education

Maturity Mismatch in the Adolescent Brain

Discuss about the Health Science for Child and Adolescent Brain.

The brain of a child develops rapidly between the ages of 3-5 years. By the time a child gets to 9 years, all the building blocks and structures are present. Over time, the different rain centers develop and become functionally connected. The prefrontal lobe is the last part to mature and it happens during adolescence. It is important to note that a mismatch in the development of the brain networks exposes the adolescents to various risky behaviors (Anderson, 2010). Notably, though, the mismatch allows for leaps in adaptability and cognition. Contrary to other reports, recent studies have revealed that the teenage brain is not simply an old child’s brain or an underdeveloped adult brain. The teenage brain can be described as a unique entity characterized by an increasing level of networking among the regions of the brain. The brain of teenagers, through evolution, has been forged to function differently from that of an adult or a child (Anderson, 2010). In this essay, we will talk about three concepts about the child and adolescent brain. Additionally, we will apply these concepts in the education setting.

There is always a mismatch in the maturation of a teen’s brain. This mismatch happens in such a way that the limbic system which is responsible for emotions intensifies at puberty. The prefrontal lobe, on the other hand, which controls the impulses, matures in the early 20s (Giedd, 2015). This mismatch in maturation makes the teenagers take more risks as well as enabling them to readily adapt to their surroundings. The fact that the limbic system starts developing at the onset of puberty between 10-12 years and matures over the next years while the prefrontal cortex that is responsible for control starts developing approximately a decade later makes the teenagers prone to risk-taking.

Normally, the limbic system that is usually hormone fuelled undergoes dramatic during puberty that is known to begin at around the age of 10 and 12. This system interacts with the prefrontal lobe during adolescence to encourage risk taking, novelty seeking, and a shift towards the interaction with peers.  As a result, the teens separate from the comfort of their families to seek new relationships and explore new environments (Mills, Goddings, Clasen, Giedd & Blakemore, 2014). It is, however, important to note that when mixed with the modern temptations of substance abuse, possession of firearms, and high-speed motor vehicles, these behaviors can pose a significant threat to the teenagers.

Impact on Risk-taking Behavior and Adaptability

This concept of mismatch in the maturation of the brain can be applied in the education setting in several ways. Firstly, the imbalanced brain development of the limbic versus the cognitive control regions tends to suggest that the teenagers who are still experiencing adolescence may be resistant to information about risks. Studies have revealed that the adolescents are normally responsive to the harms and risks that are associated with some of their behaviors (Steinberg, 2010). They tend to learn about the harms of drug use through various channels that may include school-based education and parental influence. The adolescent brain is thus sensitive to the adverse consequences of risk-taking.

Secondly, during adolescence, the students are very responsive and can easily learn from negative feedback which may further impact on their education. Recent pieces of research have provided links between cognitive abilities of adolescents and school performance. An example is an association between the working memory performance and its neural correlates with a student’s arithmetic skills (Steinberg, 2010). Additionally, an improvement in one’s understanding of complex relations normally supports the learning of math. Thirdly, the educators can challenge the brain of these adolescents with tasks such as the critical evaluation of expanse data and contents synthesis and the application of this synthesis into real-world problems (Tang, 2016). This is aimed at training the plasticity of the brain in the current age of digital systems.

There is a time known as the period of social reorientation where an individual experiences the transition between childhood and adolescence. During this period, the adolescent will be spending more of their time with peers compared to their families. This theory has been proven to be the basis where many studies regarding cognitive neuroscience are founded (Blakemore, Burnett & Dahl, 2010). As a matter of fact, pieces of evidence have revealed that the time spent with the family reduces by almost half between the ages of 9 to 15 years. In females particularly, the time spent with peers was found to increase between the above-stated age set.

On conformity, peer influence is said to show a curvilinear pattern between early childhood and late adolescence. This can be exemplified by the influence of popularity ranking of a particular song on the adolescents. In a research carried on adolescents, a functional magnetic resonance imaging task was carried out where teenagers listened and rated the likeability of a song before and after receiving its popularity ranking (Albert, Chein & Steinberg, 2013). There was a clear change in the evaluation of a song depending on its popularity among the teenagers. Additionally, peer influence affected the involvement of adolescents in driving games.

Application of Mismatch in the Education Setting

Studies have also revealed that peer influence is a major contributing factor in the involvement of the adolescents in heightened habits of making risky decisions (Blakemore et al., 2010). Taking an example of the crime statistics, many adolescents engage in acts of delinquency in peer groups where an association with deliquescent peers is a contributing factor.  This concept can be applied in the education setting in several ways that we will discuss in the following paragraphs.

Firstly, it is important to note that the academic achievements of a student are directly related to the level of peer engagement. For examples, when the levels of engagement are high, students tend to have better academic performances. Several studies have shown that peers have an influence on the school adjustment of fellow adolescent peers (Breiner et al., 2018). Schools should, therefore, attempt to encourage peer engagement to improve performances. Secondly, schools can apply formal peer tutoring to enhance the research on effects of peers within the classroom. There are several pieces of evidence that reveal the extent to which peer relationship can influence learning outcomes. Studies indicate that peers will tend to associate with peers with high levels learning outcomes (Peper & Dahl, 2013). Thirdly, contrary to the belief that peer influence only leads to engagement in unhealthy behaviors, reports have shown that it can also motivate the youths to apply more effort in their academic studies in addition to sports participation and other productive endeavors. It is thus important to treat peer influence especially one that may cause antisocial behavior, as an educational related professional issue (Silva, Chein & Steinberg, 2016). This will ensure that the peers associate to study and improve one another academically and in terms of other activities such as sports. 

This concept is a principle of brain plasticity that suggests that the human brain changes physically, chemically, and functionally every time an individual acquires any skills or ability. An adolescent will be well aware of this instinctively and the result is that the brain machinery is getting remodeled by practicing the acquired skill (Kolb & Gibb, 2011). The physical variations in the brain will thus account for an individual’s learning. The design of the brain, as is reported by several studies is such that it is constructed to be stimulated and challenged. This helps in carefully resolving and interpreting the environment (Shors, Anderson, Curlik & Nokia, 2012). This concept of the use or lose principle can be applied in the education setting in several ways, some of which will be discussed below.

Peer Influence on Adolescent Decision Making

Firstly, it is important to educate the adolescents on the importance of the seriousness of purpose as a factor that helps in preventing brain degeneration. A task that one engages in must be important to them to help in improving the functionality of the brain and counter degeneration (Shors et al., 2012). The act of memorizing unimportant items does not stimulate the brain to make new connections. Secondly, it could be important if an educator continuously adjusts the difficulty level of a task for each and every student. This ensures that each of the learners is at a stage where they can get most things correct but leaving a room for error. It is important to note that the machinery turns to change the brain only when the task at hand is demanding (Shors et al., 2012). Finally, the learners should be encouraged to pay attention to their bodies. This implies that an adolescent is trained to move in a variable and controlled way. Additionally, they can be advised to pick a specific refinement tool that they can work on, on a daily basis.

Conclusion

Brain development in a child occurs between 3-5 years, and by the time the child is 9 years old, all the building blocks of the brain are present. The adolescent brain has been forged through evolution to function differently from that of an adult or a child. There are several concepts that relate to the group of child and adolescent brain. Some of these concepts include the use or lose it principle, peer influence, and a mismatch in the maturation of the brain. It is important to understand these concepts and their applications in the education setting, to clearly understand how the brain of a child and an adolescent develops. 

References

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Anderson, M. L. (2010). Neural reuse: A fundamental organizational principle of the brain. Behavioral and brain sciences, 33(4), 245-266.

Blakemore, S. J., Burnett, S., & Dahl, R. E. (2010). The role of puberty in the developing adolescent brain. Human brain mapping, 31(6), 926-933.

Breiner, K., Li, A., Cohen, A. O., Steinberg, L., Bonnie, R. J., Scott, E. S., … & Dellarco, D. V. (2018). Combined effects of peer presence, social cues, and rewards on cognitive control in adolescents. Developmental psychobiology, 60(3), 292-302.

Giedd, J. N. (2015). The amazing teen brain. Scientific American, 312(6), 32-37.

Kolb, B., & Gibb, R. (2011). Brain plasticity and behaviour in the developing brain. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 20(4), 265.

Mills, K. L., Goddings, A. L., Clasen, L. S., Giedd, J. N., & Blakemore, S. J. (2014). The developmental mismatch in structural brain maturation during adolescence. Developmental Neuroscience, 36(3-4), 147-160.

Peper, J. S., & Dahl, R. E. (2013). The teenage brain: Surging hormones—Brain-behavior interactions during puberty. Current directions in psychological science, 22(2), 134-139.

Shors, T. J., Anderson, M. L., Curlik II, D. M., & Nokia, M. S. (2012). Use it or lose it: how neurogenesis keeps the brain fit for learning. Behavioural brain research, 227(2), 450-458.

Silva, K., Chein, J., & Steinberg, L. (2016). Adolescents in peer groups make more prudent decisions when a slightly older adult is present. Psychological science, 27(3), 322-330.

Steinberg, L. (2010). Commentary: A behavioral scientist looks at the science of adolescent brain development. Brain and cognition, 72(1), 160.

Tang, L. (2016). Neural correlates of episodic memory formation in children and adults. Wayne State University.