Truth about the teenage brain

1. GRADE 8
The Truth
about the
Teenage
Brain
By Carly Relf

2. Introduction
QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT . . . . .
Why do you think differently to adults?
Are you ruled by emotion rather than logic?
Do you have any ideas? Discuss these questions
briefly with a partner
Do you think your brain has finished growing?
Now lets take a vote for the this question . . . .

3. Aims
To understand more about how the teenage brain works.
To understand how your brains development affects
your learning, your emotions, your thoughts, your
ideas, your feelings, your decisions, your memory
and your behaviour
To learn about the differences between the male and
female brain
To learn about the impact of technology on your brain

4. The Brain Basics
How does your brain develop?
0-10 years of your life your sensory lobes are developed
(use of the 5 senses – what are these?)
FACT. By the age of six - 95% of brain development is
completed
10-12 years - major growth spurt in your brain (building
new neural connections)
13-20 years - the more complex higher order functions in
the frontal lobe develop. These include problem-solving,
rational thought, reasoning, and analysis.

5. How does the brain work?
The brain “prunes” or gets rid of information that you do
not make connections with – so the phrase “use it or lose
it” is true
Pruning follows overproduction of neural
connections. . .so the parts that you use the most will
stay which is like “survival of the fittest”
So . . . you have to be interested in the topic for your
brain to process the information and remember it . . . .
this is why your teachers are asking you to pay
attention in class.

6. How do you remember
things?
SHORT TERM MEMORY (the immediate things that you
learn at the time)
WORKING MEMORY (you can use the information but you
may forget it later)
Information goes into
long term memory
when you sleep and if
you have practiced and
revised the knowledge
LONG TERM MEMORY (you are able to recall the
information because it is stored).
You can ‘design’
your own brain. As
you make
connections to the
information the
brain will
remember it and
store it to the long
term memory

7. The Boy/Girl Brain
Read the differences below and discuss a specific example
that you have experienced for each one
Girls are more likely to be verbal (talk more)
Girls are more likely to remember and show their emotions
Boys are more likely to enjoy visual (look at things) and
spatial tasks (move around )
Boys are more likely to be competitive
Remember these are general rules but we are all
INDIVIDUALS.
Is this always true for everyone? NO

8. Are you Lost in Electronica?
How does it affect the brain? A chemical called
dopamine is released when you are stimulated by
technology so beware it can be addictive. Exercise
releases this hormone too!
Beware too much technology will stunt or slow down or
deactivate the development of the frontal lobe – we
need this part of the brain for social interaction, emotional
intelligence skills, multitasking, developing reading skills,
and acquiring general knowledge
BUT . . . .. research has shown that the internet can
actually enhance brain function too! It can help your
working memory and decision-making skills
ALLOW . . some “downtime” so that you can reflect and
help your brain to develop its thinking

9. Conclusion
THE BRAIN IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING AND
CHANGEABLE
Remember you are adding gray matter (thought
processes) and pruning (getting rid of) connections all the
time
Men and women have a different brain structure and
differing levels of hormones which affects how they
behave and think
So guys . . the choices you make now affect you for
the rest of your lives (positive experiences = highly
efficient brain)