Why Teens Forget Infographic
The Why Teens Forget Infographic explores teen’s forgetfulness which may be due to major changes in their brain. These changes can last into the college years. While there is research that demonstrates the increased forgetfulness of “teens,” research also suggests this time period is an awesome explosion of learning and discovery that takes them into adulthood.
Changes Occur in These 3 Structure
Prefrontal Cortex
Function:
- alertness
- attention
- planning
- working memory
- regulates social behaviour
Cerebellum
Function:
- balance
- motor coordination
- recognizes social cues
Limbic Cortex
Function:
- emotion
- attention
- memory
- emotional component
These changes are referred to as:
- Blossoming from 11-14
- Pruning from 14-24
Why Teens Are So Forgetful
- The use it or lose it age. Synaptic pruning.
- The teen brain is being pruned, developed, and reorganized.
- The changing limbic cortex impacts memory.
- The changing prefrontal cortex impacts working memory and attention.
- The reorganization is complex and adds extra strain on teen’s brain.
- Teen brains are losing 30,000 brain connects per second
- The teen brain needs to reconnect with info it once found easy to locate.
- The circadian shift impacts sleep and information retention.
Helpful Tips
- Love, forgive, encourage
- Experiment: What works for your teen? Each one is unique.
- Reminders: Help to create systems and routines that work foe your teen.
- Risk: Let them take healthy risks.
- Create order
- Engage: Be actively involved in your teen’s life. Make decisions with them when they find it hard.
- Sleep: Teens need at least 9.5 hours of sleep per night.
- Reward: Acknowledge wins. Build on losses. Allow natural consequences.
- Minimize busyness: Let them be emotional
- Encourage less stress
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