Adolescent development cont.
Frontal cortex Responsible for thinking, reasoning. Not fully developed.
Amygdala Responsible for emotions like anger, happiness, and sadness. Rapidly develops
Limbic and frontal brain structures The emotional system is a part of the limbic brain structure, whereas the logical system is found in the frontal cortex regions. The limbic system, which contains the amygdala, is important for emotion, drive, reward, and motivation – see www. psychologytoday.com/us/basics/motivation for more. The frontal cortex of the brain contains areas important for decision making (see www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/decision- making ), reasoning, impulse control, and inhibiting social faux pas. The logical and emotional systems develop at different rates. At the beginning of the teen years the logical brain areas have not yet fully developed. The emotional brain areas are still developing and so adolescents can seem hypersensitive to perceived criticism (17).
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