We all know how our teens can fly off the handle in an instant. Now, there is physiological evidence that these rages are based on neural changes during puberty. Teen anger as we know is can be related to brain structure.
Because major changes to the structure of the brain take place in early adolescence, researchers suspect that these changes can significantly affect the mental, social and emotional development of teens.
Researchers at the University of Melbourne filmed 137 teens having discussions with their parents about sensitive issues like "lying," "curfews" or "talking back." These teens were rated by psychologists for traits like anger, contempt, belligerence, anxiety etc. Then each adolescent had his or her brain scanned by an MRI scanner.
The study showed that teens who experienced longer episodes of anger and aggressiveness had a larger than average amygdala -- part of our Reptilian Brain associated with memory and emotions. Male adolescents with a left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) smaller than the right ACC tended to be more anxious.
Adolescence is a stage critical for looking at the way brain structures affect emotions and learning how cognitive behavior therapy can help modulate the emotional roller of teens. Studies like these can at least allow us to breathe a sign of relief, knowing that this too, like everything else associated with puberty, will pass.
Read full report here.
No comments:
Post a Comment