FEATURING: The Importance of Food, Social Media, Vaping, Mood Swings, Sleeping & Drugs
During adolescence, the teenage brain is constantly undergoing serious renovations including the growth of the brains dendrites (which send electrical messages to neurons), the extension of axons (which are long nerves that fire pain signals to your glands, muscles,and neurons), and the development of a white protective layer called myelin. This phase of remodeling in a teenager’s brain is known as “pruning”, and without proper nutrition, the brain’s ability to learn new tasks or skills decrease-- a bad sign for people in school. It is more important for teenagers to eat good sources of food than it is adults because adults don’t go through this developmental stage.
social media is very addictive for all teens and adults today. But the difference between how the teenage and adult brain react to social media is the teenage brain is still developing. It becomes more active when you see or hear that you have a new notification. The likes that you get on social media stimulates the brain and makes you excited. The brain like that excitement so it makes you want to continue to be on social media and addiction occurs.
Nicotine affects your brain development.This can make it harder to learn and concentrate. Some of the brain changes are permanent and can affect your mood and ability to control your impulses as an adult. Vaping can also cause heart attacks from the nicotine that is in vaping which increases your heart rate.
Changes in a teenagers start when the hypothalamus releases a protein called kisspeptin which then causes the pituitary gland to release testosterone, estrogen and progesterone-- the hormone associated with the changes we observe during puberty. These changes may be changes in a teen’s body, behavior, and are likely the main reason why teenagers are more likely to run into problems at school and social lives
Teens need at least, 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep each night. Sleeping a good 8 hours can help growth and development, it can also stop your chances of getting things such as depression, anxiety, also low self-esteem. Not getting enough sleep also can put you at risk for some diseases like diabetes, obesity, and poor mental health, it will improve a students physical and mental health.