8/26(Sat)The Mystery of Adolescent Brain (Host:Kooper)


文章Kooper » 週一 8月 21, 2017 9:22 pm

Dear Yoyo friends,

By any standard adolescence is a unique stage of life. It is a time when kids start to talk back to parents, exhibiting rebellious behaviors and desperately wanting to win their independence. Teenage girls and boys are experiencing drastic changes in bodies and minds. They are therefore notorious for mood swings and self-absorption. Adolescence is also a time when boys and girls stop treating each other like enemies. Many drop into first love in their teens. Once reaching puberty, adolescents start to value friendship much more highly than blood ties and suddenly become crazy pop song lovers.

What prompt all these changes are mysterious and intriguing. More often than not even the young themselves cannot label their moods or explain their behaviors. What on earth is happening to their mind, heart, and body? The British brain scientist Sarah-Jayne Blakmore tried to answer the question in a 2012 TED talk:

The mysterious workings of the adolescent brain: https://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain#t-837422

You can also read the article by the same scientist with more details if interested: https://thinkneuroscience.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/adolescent-brain-development/

Questions for Discussion:
Session I:
- In hindsight, did you embrace risk when you were teenagers? Did you generally get punished or rewarded as a result of taking risks?
- What was the boldest, most stupid, or most reckless endeavor you made in your high school days? Did you do it with a clear purpose, out of peer pressure or merely out of impulse?
- According to brain science, why youngsters are more likely to take risks?

- Taking ourselves as example, how did risk-taking, peer influence and social interaction change in our life time? In particular, when and how do we grow out of peer pressure, lose the risk-taking tendency, or change our social behavior?
- Were the changes more related to the physical growth (for instance, grow into adulthood) or environmental triggers? (enter the workplace, study abroad…, etc.)

Session II:
- Blakemore mentioned that environment plays a role in brain development during adolescence. (a scientific finding is that grey matter peaks in early adolescence, and then starts to decrease in adolescence. This process is like pruning brain connections based on the environment) Today’s teenagers spend much time on various tech devices. Would the information-rich environment be harmful to their brain? Or will it make them be more adaptable, creative, and multi-tasking?
- Lowering the voting age has been the subject of public debate. (The researcher however found that the ability to understand other people, for example to take another person’s perspective to guide decision, is still developing even in late adolescence) Should we lower the voting age or wait until a more mature brain to make political decisions? What do you think is the best age to start voting?

- Is some of the “conventional wisdom” in education correct when we get to know better about our brain? (For example, classifying kids and teaching them according to their preferred learning style. Now we know our brain cells are highly interconnected, thus, some researchers think it is less effective to develop information processing in classified education system.)
- What school activities or regulations you had as students were a pain in the neck to you, and could be designed for adults' brain instead of the youth's? (e.g. nap time, quiet class or lunch, memorizing 弟子規)

(Session I)
4:50 ~ 5:10pm Summarization (20 mins)
(Session II)
6:00 ~ 6:20pm Summarization (20 mins)
6:20 ~ 6:30pm Concluding Remarks / Announcements
最低消費： 80 元


Vice President
文章: 2365

Re: 8/26(Sat)The Mystery of Adolescent Brain (Host:Kooper)

文章Kooper » 週四 8月 24, 2017 11:55 pm

Thanks to Iris, Sherry, Rock, Michael, I finally get all the questions done! The questions they designed are varied and well-thought-out, with depth, width, and novelty. (My brain-racked questions are totally eclisped by theirs.) The only challenge left to me is how to fuse them seamlessly. Time for me to do my part! BTW, please allow me to pick your brains again for my future hosting. My experience this time is so awesome that I have become addicted to your help. :mrgreen:
Vice President
文章: 2365


文章Rock » 週五 8月 25, 2017 10:16 pm

Hey, my input has been accepted. I know Kooper is always kind. By the way, how do you say "稿費" in English? :lol:
Vice President
文章: 1839


文章Iris Wu » 週六 8月 26, 2017 12:38 pm

Yeah, Kooper is very kind. My questions were not well written or elaborated because initially I was just thinking to give a “general scope/direction” for discussion. (Not a very responsible kind of help! :) )

To be more precise, I think the talking point of this speech (or the main message that the speaker was trying to convey) is that our brain continues to remodel itself during the adolescence throughout the early adulthood, especially the prefrontal cortex which was developed in the later stage, so teenagers rely on other part of brain (amygdala) more than mature adults do. According to the neuroscientists, the amygdala “is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression and interactive behavior.”
Now we understand more about the physical/biological causes, how should we (as parents, teachers and society members) cope with the changes and further help our kids, students build a healthier brain, social relationship and suitable risk-taking mentality for their life?
I am particularly interested in how to deal with teenagers' attitude about "wronging the ancientry" (using Shakespeare's words). It would be nice to share some of our experience on this. My previous co-worker said when her boy was 16, she felt like to move out and waited until he turned to 20+ then moved back. Not a bad idea! :)
Iris Wu
YOYO member
文章: 568


文章Kooper » 週日 9月 03, 2017 8:45 pm

Host: Kooper
Attendees(11): Light, Vicky, Debby, Steve, Tina, Lawrence, Gloria, Leon, Julian, David Jr., Luis
Presence: Catherine
Vice President
文章: 2365

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