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Adolescence: What Do Transmission, Transition, and Translation Have to Do with It?
Adolescence sees a paradox: increased mortality despite improved abilities, largely due to preventable causes. This occurs as basic emotional systems activate before rational decision-making fully matures.
Childhood Adversities and Adult Psychopathology in the Who World Mental Health Surveys
This study examined childhood adversities and mental disorder onsets in 21 countries. It found significant links between various childhood adversities and the development of different mental disorders throughout life.
Commentary: A Behavioral Scientist Looks at the Science of Adolescent Brain Development
Adolescent brains differ from both children's and adults' brains in structure, function, and connectivity. These significant brain changes during adolescence are undeniable, though "different" does not mean "deficient."
Effects of Regulating Emotions on Cognitive Performance: What Is Costly for Young Adults Is Not So Costly for Older Adults
The article suggests that while emotion regulation impacts younger adults' cognitive performance, older adults might find it less effortful. This could mean older adults show less decline in mental task performance when regulating emotions.
Neurobiology of the Adolescent Brain and Behavior: Implications for Substance Use Disorders
Adolescence is a time of increased risky behavior due to an imbalance in brain development, where reward-seeking areas mature faster than self-control regions. This can heighten vulnerability to substance abuse.
Resisting Emotional Interference: Brain Regions Facilitating Working Memory Performance During Negative Distraction
Emotional processing helps the brain quickly assess situations for survival. While emotions can disrupt cognitive goals, the brain can also maintain focus, a function relying on "top-down" control.
Structural and Functional Changes in the Prefrontal Lobes of the Adolescent Brain: Implications for Executive Function
Brain imaging reveals that key areas of the adolescent brain, involved in decision-making and planning, continue to develop into young adulthood. This ongoing development suggests adolescents may face challenges with complex decisions.
The Role of Puberty in the Developing Adolescent Brain
Adolescence involves physical, cognitive, and social maturation. Puberty, marked by hormonal shifts, triggers changes in the body and brain. Animal studies show these hormones impact brain development and behavior.
Substance Use, Childhood Traumatic Experience, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in an Urban Civilian Population
Childhood trauma significantly raises the risk of adult psychiatric disorders and substance abuse. Studies show a strong link between early trauma, PTSD, and substance use, with timing and type of trauma influencing outcomes.
Understanding and Treating Unwanted Trauma Memories in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
People with PTSD often reexperience brief, vivid sensory impressions of a traumatic event. These intrusive memories feel like they are happening in the present, lack context, are easily triggered, and cause significant distress.
Adolescent Engagement in Dangerous Behaviors Is Associated with Increased White Matter Maturity of Frontal Cortex
Adolescents' risky behavior, a leading cause of death, is linked to brain development. A study found that engaging in dangerous activities is associated with greater, not less, frontal white matter maturity.
Age Differences in Future Orientation and Delay Discounting
Adolescents' ability to consider future consequences and plan ahead generally increases with age. However, studies do not consistently show age differences in how far into the future adolescents can imagine their lives.
Problems with Access to Adolescent Mental Health Care Can Lead to Dealings with the Criminal Justice System
Many young people experience mental health problems, yet few receive adequate treatment. This gap often leads to youth with mental health needs entering the criminal justice system, which is ill-equipped to provide care.
Psychosocial Stress Reversibly Disrupts Prefrontal Processing and Attentional Control
A study found chronic stress hinders attention shifts, a key function of the prefrontal cortex, but not other cognitive tasks. These stress effects on brain function were shown to be reversible.
The Influence of Substance Use on Adolescent Brain Development
Adolescent substance use, including alcohol and marijuana, can subtly but significantly alter brain structure and function. This may lead to lasting problems with memory, attention, and other cognitive abilities, even after use stops.