Building a better brain

The Teenage Brain

Scientists have a new explanation for the behaviour of teenagers: their brains are too big!

Teenagers have big brains

Scientists used to believe that our brains were fully developed by early childhood. New research shows that the brain grows very quickly between the ages of 10 and 12, when it is at its biggest. During the teenage years your brain shrinks bit by bit until it is the size of an average adult's.

Explaining Teenage Behaviour

The frontal and parietal lobes are the last to finish developing. The frontal and parietal lobes manage judgement, reasoning, planning for the future and visual/spatial ability. This may explain why teenagers are sometimes more impulsive, emotional and clumsy than adults. It's not your fault, your brain's too big!

Building a better brain

The teenage years are an important time in your brain's development and you can build a better brain. The activities of the teenager influence which cells disappear and which cells remain as they get older. Dr Giedd, a psychiatrist, says, "If you're lying on the sofa or playing video games your brain gets programmed for that." His advice: Test your brain. "If you exercise a muscle, you make it stronger. The brain works like that. Try a foreign language, music, games- anything that makes the brain work hard."

How you're using your brain now, influences the kind of brain you have when you're an adult. Don't say we didn't warn you!

Frontal lobe controls speech, thought and consciousness, body movements and co-ordination

Brain stem controls your breathing and your heart

Occipital lobe controls sight and reading

Cerebellum comes from Latin for "little brain", controls movement and balance

Parietal lobe controls feeling physical sensations, shapes and positions

Temporal lobe controls hearing and memory for speech and music

Image by: Freelance Illustration and Graphics

Source: Witelson personal webpage, McMaster Times, McMaster Courier. Photo, McMaster webpage.

1. Topical Vocabulary. Translate:

лобная доля коры головного мозга

ствол головного мозга

затылочная доля

мозжечок

теменная доля

височная доля

шаг за шагом, постепенно

пространственный

сознание

2. True or false?

1) Teenagers have bigger brains than adults.

2) Parietal lobe controls memory and consciousness.

3) The frontal and parietal lobes are the first to finish developing.

4) You can build a better brain only in teenage years.

5) Foreign languages and music make the brain work hard.

3. Discuss the following questions:

1. How should parents behave when their teenage child acts too emotionally or rebels?

2. What activities may help develop one’s brain? Is it easy to persuade teenagers to do them? Why?

3. Were you a ‘difficult’ teenager? What did your parents do to help you go through the stage?

Дата добавления: 2015-10-31