Adolescent Development and the Brain

Controls the right side of the body

Major factor in language processing

Controls the left side of the body

Handles spatial-visual information and emotions (nonverbal information)

Play roles in emotions, judgement, and language

Do not develop fully until high school years or later

Develops early

Subtopic

Involved with emotions and rewarding/seeking/novelty/risk-taking/sensation-seeking behaviors

Takes more time to develop than the limbic system

Involved with judgment and decision making

As limbic system matures, adolesncents become more responsive to pleasure seeking and emotional stimulation.

Matures last

Controls higher-order thinking processes

One hemisphere is more efficient thatn the other in performing certain functions.

Both sides process functions "differently, but simutaneously."

If a doctor removes one side of the brain, the child will show plasticity, or the brain's tendency to remain adaptable. The child will still be able to function as if the side of the brain that was removed, was still there.