
Adolescent Brain Development
Morgan & Claypool Publishers
Published on 18. April 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
104 pages
978-1-61504-642-3 (ISBN)
Description
Adolescent brain development is a fascinating, newly developing field that has so much to offer almost anyone interested in learning more. Adolescence has only come to be established as a unique developmental phase in the last few decades or so. We now know that the human brain undergoes dramatic developmental changes in the postnatal period, not only early after birth but also extending all the way into adulthood. These changes are not uniform, in that the brain regions undergoing the most change during adolescence are not the same as the regions that changed most in the early life period, and the processes of change also differ as we age. Some of the most important changes that we see during the adolescent period are: 1) pruning (or removal) of excessive neural connections, 2) increases in white matter, the portion of brain matter that allows different regions to communicate with one another, and 3) thinning of the cortex, which is comprised of the outer layers of brain matter. Compared with other areas of the brain, the frontal and temporal cortices undergo the most protracted changes in their structure, implying that developments in these areas play a large role in providing the foundation for adolescent behavioural changes. In this book, we compare adolescent behavioural changes with ongoing changes in the brain and discuss potential implications for health and educational policy-making.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
San Rafael
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 191 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
230 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-61504-642-3 (9781615046423)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr. Lisa Wright, Ph.D., is a neuroscience researcher, author, instructor, business owner, and a mother of two. She obtained her Ph.D. in psychology and neuroscience in 2011 at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Both her master's and doctoral research work was funded by the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation. Her doctoral thesis work, supervised by Dr. Tara Perrot, involved investigating the effects of adolescent stressor exposure on development of the brain, the endocrine system, and behavior, using a rat model. She then went on to study endocrine and behavioral profiles of humans in various circumstances, such as following sleep deprivation or in adolescent girls who have been diagnosed with conduct disorder. She has also taught a number of courses at Dalhousie University and Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dr. Wright's business, Fit Brain Training (www.fitbrain.ca), is co-owned and operated with her longtime mentor, Dr. Perrot. Dr. Wright and Dr. Perrot have a previous contribution to this series, entitled "Stress and the Developing Brain." Dr. Wright's daughters are 4 years old (Charlotte) and 1 year old (Paladina).
Content
- Introduction
- Introduction
- Adolescent Brain Development
- Adolescent Behavior
- Adolescent Social Dynamics
- Links to Underlying Brain Development
- Putting it All in Context
- References
- Author Biographies
- Introduction
- Adolescent Brain Development
- Adolescent Behavior
- Adolescent Social Dynamics
- Links to Underlying Brain Development
- Putting it All in Context
- References
- Author Biographies