What do I know about my brain?
Answer True or False
1. The brain learns best by reciting and repeating information.
2. The brain is largely a finished product by age 12.
3. During adolescence, the brain is becoming more efficient, but it
is also losing some of its potential for learning.
4. The teen brain responds to stimuli differently than the adult
brain.
5. Hormonal changes are responsible for teens’ emotional
outbursts.
6. We notice depression and mental illnesses
more during the teen years because teens
have more feelings.
7. The teen brain reacts in the same way to
emotional threat as it does to physical threat.
8. The average teen needs more than 9 hours of
sleep every night.
9. The reason teens struggle to get up in the
morning is because they don’t go to bed until
late at night.
10. The teen brain should stop every 15 minutes to
process new information.
Learning
Is
Connecting
How are teen brains
different?
Neural Pruning
• Starts in the womb when neurons over
populate
• Neural pruning ends around age 3
• Like pruning a tree; the strong survive
• Scientists see this happening again
around 11
• More neural pruning…over half by age 15
Use it or lose it!
Stop!
• List what you do in a day.
• Create a pie chart.
• Divide up sleeping, reading, writing,
studying, playing an instrument,
playing a sport, listening to music,
working, TV, movies and video games.
• How are you wired?
What fires together wires
together.
What’s happening with my
emotions?
•
•
•
•
Information is processed differently
Rely on amygdala rather than frontal lobes
React, don’t process
Fewer executive functions-motivation,
planning
• Rapid changes in dopamine levels
• Face studies
• From driving to drugs…
… risky business
What emotion is this woman
expressing?
• 100 % of adults identified fear.
• Fewer than 50% teens saw fear
• Teens saw sadness, confusion, anger
and shock
• Teens read visual cues differently
• Boys were more impulsive
The teen brain responds
differently to the outside
world.
Too much emotion…
•
•
•
•
•
Produces adrenaline
Produces cortisol-stress hormone
Energy is re-directed—fight or flight
Difficult to think and remember
Brain can not differentiate between
emotional and physical danger
• If rejected, takes 32x before you feel
safe
Stop!
Think about….
a time when you or someone
you know over-reacted in a
situation. How could you hav
Share with your neighbor
During adolescence mental
illness can surface…
• In the 10th grade, 64% of boys and 89%
of girls report being concerned about a
friend who is depressed.
• Higher percentage of depressed teens
used drugs and alcohol
• Schizophrenia is thought to be
triggered during neural pruning
Research has shown that…
Writing about a problem helps rid
our minds of upsetting thoughts
and thus improves our ability to
maintain and process
information—
memory and learning
We need our sleep...
• Our brains review and sort material
while sleeping
• Information is stored and discarded
• Rats reconstructed their days in their dreams
• Studies have shown sleepers perform better
• Teens need 9.25 hours of sleep; most get 7.5
• Melatonin levels differ
How does the teen brain learn
best?
• Scientists saw more activity in the
Cerebellum—physical coordination
• Use movement
• Use emotion
• Take brain breaks
• 20 minute maximum attention span
• Review 10, 24 and 7
• Pause, reflect, discuss, connect…
• Know your memory
Puzzles Prime the Brain for
Problem Solving
When encountering a mental block, take a
brain break and focus on a puzzle or word
game. Puzzles, word games and brain
teasers stimulate activity in the frontal
lobe and right hemisphere, making neural
connections more flexible for future
problem solving.
Mind Mapping
Mimics how our brains work
•
•
•
•
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Uses BOTH left and right hemispheres
Visual
Spacial
Kinesthetic
Shows
– Connections
– Relationships
– Associations
Ticket Out the Door
Ideas that “struck” you
Questions you still have
Thoughts, connections or suggestions