Navigating the Teen Years: Travel Inside the Adolescent Brain
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Transcript of Navigating the Teen Years: Travel Inside the Adolescent Brain
Navigating the Teen Years:Travel Inside the Adolescent Brain
Ken Winters, Ph.D.Department of PsychiatryUniversity of [email protected]
Drug Free Communities – Waukesha CountyWaukesha, WISeptember 26, 2013
1. TeenBrain Development
2. Brain developmentand early drug use
3. Keys to Parenting
4. Resources &Summary
Adolescence is a period of profound brain maturation.
We thought brain development was complete by adolescence
We now know… maturation is not complete until about
age 25!!!
Important ages of majority and privileges16 - emancipation
- driving
18 - gambling (usually age 21 when alcohol served)
- smoking (some at age 19
- military
21 -drinking
Maturation Occurs from Back to Front of the BrainImages of Brain Development in Healthy Youth
(Ages 5 – 20)
Source: PHAS USA 2004 May 25; 101(21): 8174-8179. Epub 2004 May 17.
Blue represents maturing of brain areas
Brain Development
1 2 7 16 30
Prenatal Post-birth Age
RA
TE
OF
CH
AN
GE
Myelination
Synaptic Refinement
Volume
Metabolism
Blood Flow
Receptors
Tapert & Schweinsburg (2005)
Adolescence
• Preference for ….1. physical activity2. high excitement and rewarding activities3. activities with peers that trigger high
intensity/arousal4. novelty
• Less than optimal..5. control of emotional arousal6. consideration of negative conseq.
• Greater tendency to…7. be attentive to social information8. take risks and show impulsiveness
Implications of Brain Development for Adolescent Behavior
Implications of Brain Development for Adolescent Behavior
reward incentives > perception of consequences
Prevalence of Past-Year DSM-IV Alcohol Dependence: United States, 2001-2002(Grant, B.F., et al., Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 74, 223-234, 2004)
12.211
5.8
4.1 3.9 3.8 3.7
1.9
0.3 0.20
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
15-20 21-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+
%
hippocampus
MRI: Hippocampal Size
Nagel, Schweinsburg, Pham, & Tapert, 2005
•Hippocampus
– Encodes new info
– Left smaller in AUD teens (p<.01)
– But no relationship with cognitive functioning (due to less severe alcohol group than Brown et al. sample?)
•Hippocampus
– Encodes new info
– Left smaller in AUD teens (p<.01)
– But no relationship with cognitive functioning (due to less severe alcohol group than Brown et al. sample?)
10% smaller volume
Prevalence of Past Year Serious Mental Illness Among Lifetime Marijuana Users Aged 18+(SAMHSA, 2005; data collected 2002-2003)
21
17.4
12.210.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
< age 12 age 12-14 age 15-17 > age 17
perc
enta
ges
age of marijuana onset
1. Many opportunities for conventional involvement, positive family involvement
2. Good impulse control3. Follows rules and avoids delinquent peers4. Negative attitudes toward drugs5. Low availability of drugs6. High commitment to school7. High perceived risk of drug use8. Rewarded for involvement in conventional activities9. Family attitudes do not favor drug use10.Family is close
Key Protective Factors that Improve the Likelihood of a Drug-Free Child
1. Many opportunities for conventional involvement, positive family involvement
2. Good impulse control3. Follows rules and avoids delinquent peers4. Negative attitudes toward drugs5. Low availability of drugs6. High commitment to school7. High perceived risk of drug use8. Rewarded for involvement in conventional activities9. Family attitudes do not favor drug use10.Family is close
Which ones are the easiest for a parent to influence? Toughest?
Take Home for Parents
Promote activities that capitalize on the strengths of the developing brain
Assist your child with challenges that require planning
Reinforce their seeking advice from you and other adults
Encourage lifestyle that promotes healthy brain development
Never underestimate drug effects on developing brain
Tolerate “oops” behaviors common during the teens
1. TeenBrain Development
2. Brain developmentand early drug use
3. Keys to Parenting
4. Resources &Summary
Helps parents prevent, intervene in and find treatment for drug and alcohol use by their
children
2. The Partnership
www.drugfree.org
Summary • Adolescence is an extended
period of transition from reliance on adults to independence
• Normal adolescence is characterized by….• increase in conflicts with family
members• desire to be with one’s friends• resistance to messages from
authority• irritability• proclamations of sheer
boredom• risk taking• reward incentive-biased
decision making
Summary
• The brain undergoes a considerable amount of development during the teen years.
• The last area to mature is the prefrontal cortex region; involved in planning, decision making and impulse control.
Gray Matter Maturation(Gogtay et al., 2004)
Gray Matter Maturation, Age 4-21Gogtay et al., 2004
Summary
Gray Matter Maturation(Gogtay et al., 2004)
Gray Matter Maturation, Age 4-21Gogtay et al., 2004
reward incentives > perception of consequences
THANK YOU! [email protected]