The Teenage Brain – Unlocked

A Neuroscientist in the US wants to shake up the school system, proposing teenage boys learn more about illicit drugs, excess alcohol, stress and mental illness.

Dr Frances Jensen, a professor of neurology and mother to two teenage boys, has recently launched a book giving parenting and learning advice for school-age boys, called The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults.

Her research began as a result of seeing the mental changes in her own teenage sons.

“Thinking back on my children, working their way through middle school, I recall changes in them that felt abrupt. One night I read Harry Potter to my son, tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. The next morning, in walked a stranger, a lanky imposter rubbing his eyes, sullen when he answered my questions, if he answered them at all,” Dr Jensen said.

“The physical and behavioral changes in our teens are stunning, as hormones work their transformative magic. Yet so much of what differentiates a child from an adult is invisible to parents and teachers who daily try to make sense of this frustrating and amazing age.”

In an interview with grownandflown.com, Dr Jensen named addiction as one of the learned behaviours of teenage boys, as they are more susceptible to negative effects of substances of stress.

“The brain is the last organ in the body to mature, which is done in the mid-twenties. It is more vulnerable in this window because of its underdeveloped state including frontal lobes (seat of judgement), which are not as accessible to teens as they are for adults,” she said.

“Teens have a heightened ability to learn and synapses are functioning at higher levels, which is excellent and explains why they can learn so much.”

When asked about the specific subjects parents needed to discuss with their teenager, Dr Jensen set down a list of the most important.

“Illicit drugs Cannabis can lower a teen’s IQ if they are smoking on a daily basis,” she said.

“Excessive alcohol tell them that they only have one brain and it is still growing. Binge drinking can cause cell death in a teen’s brain at a level that would only cause intoxication in an adult.

“Molly/Ecstasy there can be significant brain damage from these drugs which is especially true during the early 20’s. Because the brain is changing and young adults have more receptors for the drugs, there is potential for severe damage.

“Stress it can interfere with learning. With impulse control being weak in teens, they need to be careful about what they expose themselves to in terms of harmful situations which can cause stress.

“Mental illness this is the time when depression, schizophrenia, and psychotic breaks can occur so you need to be connected with your kid so you are aware if you see signs. Discuss this with your college student so that if a friend has a problem they can recognize it and get help for them.”

Dr Jensen said the more time you spend with your kids; the more desensitised they become to you and open up.

“Don’t be that household where your kid comes home from school, gets a snack, and retreats into his bedroom with the door closed for the rest of the night. That is a pretty typical, sadly, modern family. Extract them for mealtime or some other family activities on a regular basis. You are interacting. Let them see you being you. They are watching you and let them see you make mistakes,” she said.

“Being in the car together is wonderful because, blissfully for my sons, there is no eye contact. You are driving, they are in the passenger seat and you can start to have the conversations that would be uncomfortable face to face.”

Dr Jensen said it was good practise to have a conversation with your kids about judgement.

“I doubt there is a single teenager who hasn’t had one or two events where parents have said to them afterward “Are you kidding? You are an A student, why did you do that?” It’s not that teens can’t reason through the question but they don’t have access to split second reasoning in their frontal lobes like adults do. Their brain’s activity isn’t conducting fast enough for teens to say to themselves “Oh, I better not do this.” They go for the risk and afterward realize that they shouldn’t have done that. Point out this weakness and ask them to try to think twice in the future.”

Are schools doing enough in educating our kids about drugs?