WELLBEING
Is it time for the adolescent brain to be studied much like a machine? Illustration courtesy of the Dismantling Society
Sex & Drugs (& Rock & Roll) : taking risks A s well as changing sleep patterns, risk taking is another behavioural pattern often associated with adolescents and is manifested in activities like dangerous driving, binge-drinking, taking drugs and increased unprotected sexual activity. Many of these activities give intense pleasure or euphoria and it is the neurotransmitter dopamine that is responsible for these feelings. For instance alcohol consumption increases dopamine levels in the brain, making the drinker more likely to take risks. But why, out of any age group, are adolescents particular risk-takers? One theory is that the ventral striatum (the part of the brain which is important in reacting to excitement) is less active in some teenagers, causing them to take greater risks to get the dopamine hit their brains crave. Also significant is that the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which controls logic, decision making and complex thinking (amongst other things) does not develop in many teenagers until later in adolescence. This means they are more susceptible to impulsive behaviour. For many adolescents, a risk-taking teenage brain is a fact of life. However, there are ways of dealing with the problems this can cause. The best way to combat the dangers of risk taking is to know the consequences (which need not exhaustively be re- iterated here) and to find other, safer ways of thrill seeking.
It is more difficult, therefore, for adolescents to attain the statutory amount of sleep because they often have to wake up early in the morning for school. This is problematic as it results in a loss of REM or ‘rapid eye movement’ sleep (this is the period when we are in our deepest sleep and our eyelids flutter), which experts now believe is particularly important for memory and learning. Scientists have analysed the brains of rats and other small mammals and have discovered a difference in the number and complexity of dendrites and synapses after sleep that follows a particular activity. If this pattern holds true for humans (which is very likely), this means that whatever you learn (or watch on television) one evening could influence and strengthen certain synaptic pathways during REM sleep, altering your adolescent brain. Additionally, hormones are released and regulated during this sleep phase, including hormones for growth, sexual maturity and stress (for example in sleep-deprived humans the stress hormone cortisol increases). These hormonal and neuronal changes may explain why the lack of REM sleep can cause anxiety, depression, poor immunity, accidents, poor judgement, poor memory, hyper- sexuality and slower reactions. During adolescence – at a time when the brain is plastic and physically changing – what happens to the brain can have long-term effects. Sleep is crucial – there is simply no other way of putting it.
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