Child Psychiatry for Parents: Text:Part I General Issues:Chapter 1: Adolescent Brain Biology

Chapter 1: Adolescent Brain Biology-A Brief Introduction

(cont'd from September 24th, 2011)

Wendla A. Schwartz, MD

Adolescent Brain Biology-A Brief Introduction
When we set out to learn how to drive a car we do not necessarily need to look under the hood, inspect the who-zits and what-sits and receive lessons on all the internal connections and causal relationships therein. We can be told, quite simply, that the gas pedal is on this side, the brake on the other, the steering wheel does this and that when turned right or left etc...And, for the most part things will go as planned. However, suppose we are given a beautiful, beloved and very special car that does not always operate as it should. What if we step on the gas and the thing stops instead of starts? What if we turn the wheel left and the car speeds forward instead of gently veering off in the anticipated direction? We will probably take that car to our mechanic for a diagnosis and, hopefully some sort of treatment. Now suppose we discover the diagnosis is something long term and the treatment is one of management rather than cure. The mechanic tells us treatment is not likely to eradicate the underlying problem but might alleviate many symptoms and thereby minimize impact on performance. Treatment efficacy, he says, is dependent on how well we understand and interact with our beloved vehicle. In other words: What if we discover we need to learn how this car operates to overcome its challenges and help it to reach its full potential? Perhaps then it would be helpful to lift the hood and gain a better understanding of all those who-zits and what-sits underneath. So, we will begin this book with a brief summary of adolescent development and brain science. It is somewhat tricky to address this topic without becoming too technical. I have attempted to keep things light marking the less relevant but still interesting technical tidbits with * for those readers who might wish to explore the subject a little more deeply. Those sections can be reviewed quickly or skipped entirely depending upon the reader’s interest.

It must be noted that, although automobiles provide a nice analogy in thinking about the study of adolescent brain development, the truth is, children are not really cars. As we know from ‘borrowed creatures’, we do not ‘own’ our children. They are not possessions and we do not have the mechanical control over them that we do over an automobile. Children are autonomous individuals possessing a pesky little thing called free will. Unlike a car, we do not have the power to move the steering wheel and make them turn right or left. We do, however, have a responsibility for them. That part is fairly obvious and can be presumed to be understood by the reader since you are already holding this book in your hands. Our role as parent requires that we provide for them an environment free of enabling behaviors (on our part) and full of useful tools and love. Whether they pick up those tools will be, entirely up to them. It is useful here to review the rules for Borrowed Creatures before launching into this chapter:

The Rules for Borrowed Creatures Are:
1. If we did not create or cause it we cannot control it, and we did not create our kids (even if we think we did).
2. The fact that we cannot ultimately control our children does not mean we are relieved of responsibility related to them.
3. Our responsibility extends only to that which we have power over: ourselves.