Summary of Frances E. Jensen & Amy Ellis Nutt's The Teenage Brain - E-book - ePub

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 When children are teenagers, they often change dramatically. They become moody, defiant, and even unruly. This is not due to them being bad kids, but rather because their brains and bodies are undergoing extensive reorganization. #2 Adolescence is a minefield, but it is also a relatively recent discovery.
The idea of adolescence as a general period of human development has been around for aeons, but as a discrete period between childhood and adulthood, it can be traced back only to the middle of the twentieth century. #3 The American psychologist Granville Stanley Hall, in his book Adolescence, described adolescence as a distinct and separate stage qualitatively different from either childhood or adulthood.
He suggested that adolescents shouldn't be coddled but rather corralled and indoctrinated with the ideals of public service, discipline, altruism, patriotism, and respect for authority. #4 The most important thing to remember about the teenage brain is that it is still developing, and therefore not yet capable of controlling itself. The sex hormones testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone are particularly active in the limbic system, which is the emotional center of the brain, and this explains in part why teenagers are so emotionally volatile.