Revealing the mechanism of the brain to go into reckless action in adolescence or to remember anxiety without reason

ByAlex Proimos

It is common for young adults from 13 to 19 years old to dare to act ruthlessly, to rebel without meaning, to experience why they do not understand, but feel uneasy, sometimes as teens The stretching action peculiar to boys and girls is "Chunichi DiseaseSometimes it is called. Evaluation of thoughts and behaviors peculiar to such teenagers is "very natural occurring in the process of brain growth".

Why Teenagers Act Crazy - NYTimes.com
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/opinion/sunday/why-teenagers-act-crazy.html

Sarah Jane Blakemore: Adolescent Brain Wonders | Talk Video | TED.com
http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain?language=ja#t-735309

Traditionally, the human brain was thought to be completed by adolescence, but in recent years,MRIYaFMRIWith the development of devices such as the development of images of brain activity in various parts of the brain and the state of brain activity under consideration, "The growth of the brain is not limited to teenagers but depending on the part 20 We will continue to grow even in the 30s and generations ". It is clear that this is because there is a particular reason for fear and anxiety in teens' adolescence in their teenage age, "Because the brain's growth speed differs from part to part".


◆Anxiety without reason
It is in the inner part of the brain that you sense danger and feel terror "Amygdala"It is the part called" fear and anxiety, "and it is the part of the front part of the brain that acts and suppresses the actions well by treating the feelings of fear and anxietyPrefrontal cortex"Whereas the amygdala body grows greatly by adolescence, the prefrontal cortex is slow to grow. Due to this growth rate gap, it is often that we can not handle feeling of anxiety well in the 10's, which is a natural phenomenon that we know that this gap will be eliminated along with growth and you will not feel unease without reason I will.

It is the purple part · prefrontal cortex which is known as a part controlling emotions and behavior, occupies nearly 30% of the cerebral cortex, and human beings are the most intellectual animals thanks to this greatly developed prefrontal cortex It is said.


On the other hand, the amygdala that feels terror is located deep within the brain at the site indicated by red in the figure.


◆Ability to think from the other's standpoint
Also, the blue part of the picture is "Prefrontal cortex medial partIt is a part that governs the ability to read partner's emotions from the expression and behavior of others. This part is also known to be developing in adolescence.


This is a schematic diagram of an experiment, the left is the shelf seen from the subject, and the right is the state of the shelf as seen from the experimenter. A piece of gray board is attached to the shelf so that the inside can not be seen from the experimenter. In this state, for example, if the experimenter gives an instruction "Please move the above track to the left", when you stand in the position of the opponent (experimenter), the correct answer is the blue truck but many people He said he would move a white track. In other words, from this experiment it is possible to measure the ability to think things from the other's point of view.


On the other hand, as a control experiment, we did not consider it from the standpoint of the experimenter, but under the condition that "the object at the place with the gray board is not moved" was attached, the experiment to move the object according to the instruction was done at the same time It was.


The gray graph in this figure shows the wrong rate in experiments in which adult subjects act according to the instructions of the experimenter. Around 50% of people are failing to act in the position of their opponent. On the other hand, the white graph shows the rate of failure in the control experiment.


I got interesting results when I went to a young teenager (the leftmost in the graph was 7 to 9 years old, the fourth from the left was 14 to 17). As you get older, you can see that the rate at which you can take correct action in experiments is increasing.


However, while the result of the control experiment reached about the same level as adults at about 17 years old, it is clear that the results of the experiments considered from the other party's position show that adults are far better than 17 years old. In other words, the ability to act according to the conditions is completed around the mid-teens while the ability to act from the other's point of view is still developing among teenagers.


◆Reckless behavior
Also shown in the red part is "Cerebral limbic system"Is a part that organizes emotions and feels rewarding, and at the same time it is a part that feels euphoria by challenging and achieving dangerous things.


As mentioned earlier, suppressing emotions so as not to take dangerous actions is the prefrontal cortex, as development is not adequate yet in adolescence and does not catch up with the growth of the limbic system, so teenagers are reckless behaviors That is why it tends to go out.


◆How to contact your teens
Thus, as there is a gap in the growth speed of parts of the brain, it became clear that emotions and behaviors peculiar to teens are occurring. Mr. Sarah Jane Blakemore, who studies brain science and social behavior studies, teens are the most adaptable period, and because it is time to be greatly affected by surrounding environment and education, teens He said that it is important to understand that the brain is at a stage of growing, not to criticize or disembode behavior, to deprive himself, to be funny and funny, to help him observe growth and help.