Study: Why Teens Don't Care

[Richard]

Sara Goudarzi
LiveScience Staff Writer
LiveScience.comThu Sep 7, 5:45 PM ET

If you ever sense that your teenager is not taking your feelings into account, it's probably because they're just incapable of doing so.

The area of the brain associated with higher-level thinking, empathy, and guilt is underused by teenagers, reports a new study. When considering an action, the teenage medial prefrontal cortex, located in front of the brain, just doesn't get as much action as adults.

"Thinking strategies change with age," said Sarah-Jayne Blakemore of the University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience.  "As you get older you use more or less the same brain network to make decisions about your actions as you did when you were a teenager, but the crucial difference is that the distribution of that brain activity shifts from the back of the brain (when you are a teenager) to the front (when you are an adult)."

Teen thinking

In the study, teens and adults were asked how they would react to certain situations while their brains were being imaged.

Although both adults and teens responded similarly to the questions, their brain activity differed.

The medial prefrontal cortex was much more active in the adults than in the teens. However, the teenagers had much more activity in the superior temporal sulcus, the brain area involved in predicting future actions based on previous ones.

Adults were also much faster at figuring out how their actions would affect themselves and other people.

"We think that a teenager's judgment of what they would do in a given situation is driven by the simple question: 'What would I do?'" Blakemore said.  "Adults, on the other hand, ask: 'What would I do, given how I would feel and given how the people around me would feel as a result of my actions?'"

Developing sensitivity

Children start taking into account other people's feelings around the age of five. But the ability develops well beyond this age, the new research suggests.

And while some of this sensitivity could be the result of undeveloped regions in the brain, the experience that adults acquire from social interactions also plays an important role.

"Whatever the reasons, it is clear that teenagers are dealing with, not only massive hormonal shifts, but also substantial neural changes," Blakemore said. "These changes do not happen gradually and steadily between the ages of 0–18. They come on in great spurts and puberty is one of the most dramatic developmental stages."

The results of the study were presented today at the BA Festival of Science in the UK.

Link to story on Yahoo news

[Monica]

These hormonal shifts are also what make people of this age ideal for deep programming.  I'm not sure I could comment on the teenage mentality, as I never really had it, but I also imagine there are issues with teens because on some level they know they're being denied the level of information they could readily understand.  With a mind still in flux, and probably affected by the continued development of child alters, it is not surprising they may go into a survivalist mode.

With a lack of better training and information available on how to develop as a young adult, the survival/struggle mentality of the reptilian brain patterns becomes predominant over the surpassal mentality.  Overtime this is treated as normal, and they integrate themselves better into adult 'civilisation.'  If we had a society that did not disrespect the young so much, and gave time and attention to individual development, the concept of "teenagers" would essentially be defunct anyway.  I believe it was a creation to define those people who are in the "teens" chronologically, despite not having particular relevance to actual human development modes.

I would be very interestd to see how different 'teenagers' would be if they were not brought up in a society where they have to struggle and fight, to fit in and survive, all the way to "maturity". Being a teenager is much like being in a rat race for some bizarre lab experiment.  Besides, most adults don't behave like adults under stress anyway.  There is a lot more wrong with the education and socialisation of children than most people are willing to admit. :D

My two cents.  Interesting article though...

[Richard]

There is a lot more wrong with the education and socialisation of children than most people are willing to admit. :D

I think a lot of people admit there is a problem but are at a loss as to how to correct the situation. Also governments are unwilling to change anything. It’s all part of programming the teens.

[PurpleParrot]

Richard, I find this article highly interesting. It makes me want to take a course on brain and behavior-what affects what part of the brain and so on...up on the neurotransmitter levels. Well I always wanted to take such a course but I never had the chance to..maybe I could find it and take it so I could learn and understand another facet of the human brain better.

Anyway, I hang out with people of all sorts of ages...but over the past year, while I have spent time with those near my age group(early to mid twenties), I have also spent a great deal of time with late teens(17,18,19 year olds)....and I do notice what they go through with all the adjustments,etc....

haha now I'm going to have to hang out with the emo group near the cafe to study 'em better!! lol thats so bad that I'm not hanging out with them sincerely..but just to study their group dynamics and individualist behaviors lol...j/k

 

[Octahedron]

Programming is installed yes.

A lot of electronics in house, interactive TV, PC games, cell-phones, video games, walkmans.

Don't forget the developed ergonomics on applicating electronic devices; which stimulates reactive basic-behaviour instead of anticipating behaviour. I guess the cell-phone is also damaging in the auditive motoric/mechanical behaviour of people in setting priorities what they are actually doing.

Also have a look how people behave when driving cars in busy traffic. A complete different way of thinking/behaving is viewable beween older adults and younger ones.

[PurpleParrot]

Octahedron: what are the differences that you find between adult and adolescent drivers? Just curious. I'm inbetween!!! I left adolescence hrm..6 years ago?

I notice in myself that on days when I don't have a class or job to go to or something that requires that I attend to it on time and no latenesses allowed, I will drive very relaxed(hey because I'm usually listening to music in the car). If I do have a time commitment to attend to, I tend to get a tad bit nervous,upset,aggressive and sometimes irritated with the traffic especially if I feel I'm running out of time. I get very worried about driving safely as well as getting to the place on time. I even feel impatient. I'm sure thats normal. People get irritated with me sometimes when I drive at a relaxed pace. They will honk or tailgate or sometimes cut me off/try to drive in front of me. I have seen obvious road rage occurrences where people do curse or yell and flip their middle fingers at the other. but I guess as an observer, sometimes I'll disappointingly wonder why they are so reactive or I'll find it amusing on the other hand. Well thats NY for ya!!! Its not that bad...

Teens: Well I notice that sometimes they'll drive faster than the adults do and they'll blast loud music. They will travel in groups often because I'm sure they don't want to rely on their parents as much!!!

On the other hand, I do seldom see that single males (but not all of them) will want to attract a lady by showing off their cars--so they will obnoxiously blast music,honk at the ladies, stop in front of them or alongside of them on the sidewalks..(just not all the time..). That's usually in the"ghetto" areas though or on weekend nights near bars,lounges, and clubs.

I haven't been a passenger in my friends cars for a while...I sometimes refuse to.

 

[Astrojewels]

I agree with Monica totally with the easy access of programming during adolescence, those hormones really make it easy. But please clarify-you never had that mentality, did you miss out on your teens?

I have a teenager daughter and have learned so much about programming thanks to her transition, but does it make it easier when you have the answers to the ‘whys’, I do not think so, those years will ‘make or break you’.

But when you get older, those years are your reflection, your connection to the child within and provide so much insight to your own programming, because you are able to look back at how you reacted. I was a high risk taker in my teens, I faced death so many times, that tells me so much. Then there is the fashion, you look back and laugh, but most important like PP says, the music, this is what creates your memories because a particular song had impact and now when you hear it, you reflect those times and think “was that me”. PP, they travel in packs to create their own identity, finding where they belong and also constructing valuable lessons with people and life, and the boys are like peacocks showing off, but it works, many young girls are taken in by that behavior. It is these years that people let you down, break your heart and leave you at the curb. It is the transition of child to adult and as much fun as I had, would not want to do it again. This is a great post and one that all can relate with.

[Monica]

It's because of how I entered this reality.  My lifeline is a continuation of another one in recent linear history, and I always felt that even though I didn't know about it until later.  After a conversation with Stewart, he explained that at 19 I had the emotions and mentality of a 50+ year old, because of this, and also because I have highly sophisticated lifelines from powerful civilisations that influence my current existence.  So, although I did participate in being a teen chronologically, and through my life experiences, my actual mind-pattern was not part of that group mind-pattern.  I used to have to watch and learn about 'how' to be a teenager (and child), because it didn't really make sense to me.

[Astrojewels]

Thanks for clarifying, but has it been hard for you to experience physical life if you do not participate sequentially? Both my children are also very skilled souls, but so are both their parents, and we have also interacted with many life-streams of great impact, the sole reason why we are in Australia. It is a challenge, but I try extremely hard for my children to interact with this reality and to actually be children, I think it is a very important process for the mind-pattern. However, knowing what you know and having answers would allow life to be much simpler, and I could have used some of that when I was 19.

[Monica]

Yes, I find physical reality difficult.  It doesn't work in the way I expect it to! :D  It creates a lot of frustration to know how to deal with growing/changing and becoming an adult participant in the world, yet having a mind that works in other ways, and a profound desire, already, to change and evolve my experiences before having found a foundation in the world as an independant person.  I can't "fit in" easily with the standard paths for entering adulthood, (in the chronological sense), so I have to find my own route, for which there is no current blueprint.  It does make me stronger-minded, but also a bit reactive against conventional living and thinking.