Teenage Brains
Teenagers are wired differently from their parents and even their older siblings. Recent neuroscientific research indicates that the brain’s quotient of gray matter – neuron- filled tissue responsible for cognitive and emotional functions, among other tasks – peaks in adolescence. But relative to adults, teenagers are short on white matter, the tissue that ensures efficient and steady coordination throughout the brain. The connections between the rest of the brain and the frontal lobe, which is charged with foreseeing the consequences of one’s actions and differentiating between good and bad, do not fully form until one’s 20s. In the teenage years, the brain is all brawn.
Toss this brain into the Internet’s social web, a sea so roiling that it sometimes proves unnavigable even for adults, and what do you get? The adolescent brain, according to neuroscientists, is likelier to seek smaller, earlier rewards than larger, later ones. With adolescence also comes a shift in the usual source of a child’s counsel. Adolescents begin to rely more on their peers for support and less on their parents and teachers. In effect, the endless fast feedback on social sites can nurture users’ worst tendencies.