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Reaction Paper for an article
entitled “What Makes Teens Tick?”
When I scan the papers, the first thing that provokes my attention is the large caption at the side of second page. Printed in boldfaced letters, “The last area of the brain to mature is the part capable of deciding.” It makes me say to myself, “So I am immature.” I kind of agree with that conclusion since I really stand for it. Being older than a peer is what I hate the most. I always tell them, “I may be older biologically, but I’m younger mentally.”
The reason why I look over the papers at first is not because of the “conventional type of reading.” It is just that the topic title is a sort of undecipherable in my opinion. The term used is out of my vocabulary so I need to make a research. But after coming up with the entries in DICTIONARY.COM, I still do not know which of the following entries is being referred in the title. This is probably because I read the content first before looking up for the meaning or before understanding it. But then, I find the title with the researched meaning inappropriate for the paper. I consult for a translation and I am startled because I’m already acting what the question asks to explain. Is this a coincidence? No. What makes teens tick is what a typical person angers with. Misfortune. Being out of place.
The study about the patterns of development in the brain conducted by Dr. Jay Giedd is interesting. The idea about using the twins as the control set-up is brilliant. I also believe that it will clearly draw the generalization. But what bothers me is that as if they are the guinea pigs for experiment. Morally speaking, this is unjust. What I am thinking here is that maybe the study will lead us to a more advanced computer world wherein human thinking and behavior are controlled or programmed. In spite of this speculation, perhaps their real objective is inclined for good sake.
The thing that interests me the most is the thing they want to know after an ages starting from the advent of this study. I want to know if the different paths taken by the twins will really establish a difference in the physiological changes in the structures of the brain of each one of the pair. As they state, the brain is the part of the body where experiences turn to flesh. For me, that fact is really astonishing. Imagine this: what I’m doing right know produces a respiring brain cell that tells of this typing experience.
I also learn that mistakes done by teenagers are not really that intentional. We are just recapping across or we need to survive through the changes happening in our brain. But that doesn’t mean that we are free of charges and we can do anything without any limit. Since we are doing all of our actions under conscious control, we are liable with what we are doing. Hence I say abolishing death penalty for kids less than 18 years of age is a sort of groundless since juvenile criminals choose to do that crime and/or at least they choose to be under the power of peer pressure.
Another notion that captivates me is “undergoing changes past puberty.” Funny though, because of that statement I regain my hope and then say, “So I can still make up my immaturity until age 25.” However, this is contradictory to the idea of pruning in which unnecessary brain cells are eliminated. Meaning, humans shouldn’t procrastinate the things they need to work-out. If they do so or I in my case then I will lose my potential for learning that certain skill and I will just rely on what is left. I can conclude from the article that chances for versatility are closed at age 12.”Neural Darwinism: How you spend your time may be critical.” Then, will this be the end? During this past summer, I concentrated my time on doing digital works and so earn a potential in visual arts. The twist is that I wanted to be in the domain of science whereas creativity never counts. Can I still cope up for my wanted career given that I spent a significant amount of time with honing my creativity?
Raging hormones. These are experienced during puberty. Unlike common beliefs, it isn’t really a poison that surges death towards the moral of the adolescent. Puberty is like a matchstick that is either beneficial or bane depending on the turn of circumstances. When puberty thrills an individual, he seeks for his worth but then, since the world is bombarded with unpleasing elements, an individual at puberty is mostly at risk.
Dumb decisions. The findings state that “Adolescents rely heavily on the amygdala (associated with emotional and gut reactions)… Adults rely less on the amygdala and more on a frontal lobe (associated with planning and judgment).” I consider this accurate since it really showcases the truth in human psychology. Adolescents most commonly burst their emotions in a situation; unlike grown-ups, they commonly consider the situation and impose their actions with caution or what we call “second thought.” From here we may conclude that teenagers are the one who usually commits mistakes from dumb decisions.
All in all, the article “What Makes Teens Tick?” is a very detailed explanation of the undergoing changes in the cognitive thinking and in the physiology of the brain. For example, I have learned that the specific part responsible for being a grade conscious is the nucleus accumbens - “a region in the frontal cortex that directs motivation to seek rewards.” Furthermore, I hope that the study will be beneficial in terms of curing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia (impairment in perception) or autism. I also hope that the committee in regulating the television will ban the commercials that aren’t true like those commercials which claim that they will make babies’ brains spur with intelligence.
I like to expound more on my reaction but the terms used are too technical. That is, only a little is known by me. But, Good Earth, please tell me: will I still be able to cope for my dream career?
 `Li · Fri Oct 26, 2007 @ 11:21am · 0 Comments |
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