On July 12th, at the Annual National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children Summer Assembly, keynote speaker Jeff Georgi will talk about “The Adolescent Brain,” including a number of intervention strategies to help adolescents with trauma-related substance abuse, obesity and eating disorders. But why should trauma specialists know more about the adolescent brain in particular? Those of you who work with teenagers might be thinking, “how do you ever know exactly what is going on in an adolescent’s brain anyway?” I have also heard many a parent say, “I think my teenager must be an alien from another planet. This is not the same child I knew a few years ago.” Teenagers’ behaviors continue to mystify and often frustrate both helping professionals and families and we often associate their responses with the need to be autonomous or raging hormones. In reality, what science can now tell us about the adolescent brain is changing how we think about teenagers and reframing how we can best intervene with those at risk.
While most of the human brain develops by age six years, neuroscience tells us that some of most significant spurts of growth occur just around the adolescent years. In particular, the area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex [the part of the brain related to organization, planning, memory, and executive functions] grows just before puberty. In essence, as this area develops more fully, young people are more able to control impulses, make good judgments, and improve reasoning. The cerebellum is another part of the brain that changes, too; it supports physical coordination and complements the cortex’s functions in decision-making, logic and social skills. In brief, the complex circuitry of the human brain is not mature until our early 20s.
Because it was once thought that all brain development essentially happened before age 6, researchers were initially surprised that the brain continued to grow through adolescence. More importantly, some neuroscience researchers believe this is a particularly important time for brain development. Neuroscientist Jay Giedd underscores that what tens do or don’t do can impact them during the rest of their lifespan. For example, an adolescent who is playing a musical instrument, painting pictures, engaging in sports, or mastering a language is hardwiring those interests and skills; in contrast, Giedd notes that the teenager who is lying on the couch or constantly absorbed by computer games are hardwiring a different set of brain connections.
Teenage brains also are still learning how to perceive emotion and do so differently than adult brains. Researchers have concluded that adolescents and adults actually use a different part of their brains to process feelings; adults use the frontal cortex, while teens use the amygdala [limbic system, the area of our brains that is related to instinctual response]. As adolescents become adults, the way feelings are perceived moves from the amygdala to the cortex.
So how do we apply this knowledge to work with teenagers and particularly those who are challenged by traumatic experiences or substance abuse and addictions? First, we know that adolescent behaviors are not just the result of raging hormones or simply the need for independence. More importantly, the brain is a lot more “plastic” (flexible and pliable) than was previously thought, opening up possibilities for intervention based on emerging knowledge.
For information on Jeff Georgi’s keynote and to register for this summer’s Assembly, visit the 2011 Practitioners’ Assembly webpage. During his two decades at Chapel Hill Medical Center in North Carolina, Jeff held clinical appointments in the Departments of Surgery, Obstetrics, and Psychiatry. He remains a clinical associate in the Department of Behavioral Medicine as well as a faculty member of the Duke University School of Nursing. He has contributed to a number of Treatment Improvement Protocols that are part of the best practice guidelines by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in Washington, DC. You will not only learn more about the adolescent brain, but you’ll also take away a toolkit of practical interventions and strategies to use in your work with teens.
Be well,
Cathy Malchiodi, PhD, LPCC, LPAT
traumainformedtherapy 