How Adolescents Learn
By Mary Ann Scott, Ph.D.; NCSP; ABSNP; Park Tudor Middle School Psychologist
Extraordinary changes occur during the second decade of life. The brain of an early adolescent — in comparison with that of a late adolescent — differs noticeably in anatomy, physiology, and chemistry.
Current research suggests that part of the frontal lobe of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, is one of the last areas of the brain to fully mature. The prefrontal cortex, considered the “CEO” or executive of the brain, is responsible for skills such as setting priorities, organizing plans and ideas, forming strategies, controlling impulses, and allocating attention.
Development of the executive part of the brain is an ongoing task that becomes increasingly important during the middle school years. The brain produces a large number of neural connections just before puberty. These connections diminish in number throughout adolescence through a “use-it-or-lose-it” pruning. Pruning leads to a leaner, more efficient brain.
Because of pruning, it is very important that parents do not complete academic tasks that their children should be doing for themselves. Read more about the early adolescent brain and how parents can help their children learn most effectively in the complete article, "Learning and the Adolescent Brain," at right.