cog and neuro changes in adolescence

Adolescence: Neuro/cognitive Changes

• Adolescence is a period of significant neurocognitive change.
• Working memory (WM) demonstrates developmental trends in primary school years; it's trainable.
• Reading difficulties are associated with sound categorization.
• Comprehension is linked to developmental changes in memory automation, organization, retrieval strategies, and selective attention.
• Comprehension skills also depend on metacognition and understanding the structure of text, alongside the ability to monitor comprehension.
• Cognitive development during adolescence is complex, involving various factors (e.g., brain structure, self-identity).

Theories of Adolescent Change

• Adolescent risk-taking, moral decision-making, and interpersonal relationships are facets of adolescent change.

Adolescent Age

• Adolescence is not precisely defined in terms of age.
• Puberty's onset and the age of becoming an adult differ depending on several individual factors.

Adolescent Characteristics

• Biological changes (including puberty).
• Specific performance changes in cognitive abilities.
• Changes in familial relationships.
• Preparation for adulthood.

Neurological & Cognitive Development

• Questions about observed behavioral changes in relation to brain activity during adolescence.
• The need to understand how brain activity changes, involving both where in the brain these changes take place and how these changes occur.
• Can observed behavioral changes be attributed to the structural changes in the brain?

Brain Size and Age

• Total cerebral volume peaks just before adolescence (~ 10 yrs) in females and during adolescence (~ 14 yrs) in males (MRI data (Giedd et al. 2011)).

Gender Differences

• Male brains often larger on average than female brains.
• Even after adjusting for differences in body size.
• Differences in some neuronal connectivities and receptor density.
• Girls demonstrate language and verbal skills and boys demonstrate visuospatial skills, but these vary depending on the activities that the individual is exposed to on a regular basis.
• Differences between genders show variation and improvement through activities.

White Matter and Learning

• Axons allow neurons to communicate with each other. They are covered in white fatty myelin sheaths to help with the propagation of nerve impulses between cells.
• White matter increases during adolescence, correlating with improved cognitive functioning.
• Increased white matter is related to improved functioning in memory and language.
• White matter relates to faster communication between brain regions.

Corpus Callosum

• Part of the brain's white matter, connecting the two hemispheres.
• It also shows marked development across childhood and adolescence, potentially supporting cognitive improvement over this time span.

Measuring White Matter

• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and DTI (diffusion tensor imaging) are used to assess structural changes in the brain.
• DTI measures water diffusion to assess fiber tracts.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

• Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, Formal operational.

Piaget on Adolescence

• Hypothetical thinking, ability to imagine possible scenarios.
• Thinking transcends immediate reality and explores possibilities beyond current circumstances.
• This cognitive ability is not exclusively associated with or unique to adolescence.

Imaginary Play and Hypothetical Thinking

• Imaginary play in children may reflect hypothetical thinking.
• Adolescents demonstrate more complex hypothetical thinking involving imagining multiple scenarios and judging the consequences of different possibilities.

Implications of Adolescent Hypothetical Thinking

• Develop sophisticated sense of self-identity, understanding themselves and their relations to the world
• Understand possible scenarios as a coping strategy and an anticipatory means for problem solving.

Evidence for Developmental Differences in Hypothetical Thinking

• Research (e.g., study from Guttentag and Ferrell (2008)) has explored potential developmental differences in hypothetical thinking or the ability to anticipate future events.
• Adolescents are more able to consider hypothetical scenarios and the potential consequences, distinguishing themselves from younger children and adults with less prospective thought.

Adolescent Hypothetical Thinking Usefulness

• Self-identity development and its relation to understanding potential future possibilities (e.g., careers or relationships).
• Critical thinking, problem-solving, planning, decision-making are all better and more adaptive as adolescents use hypothetical thinking.

Learning Outcomes Summary for Week 1

• Students will understand the nature of white matter and its role in learning.
• Students will understand the extent of white matter development during adolescence, which relates to the change in cognitive skills.
• Students will understand various aspects of how white matter develops over childhood and adolescence.
• Students will understand the extent to which brain development explains the cognitive changes of adolescents