On March 6, Faith Lutheran High School presented a lecture by Robert Sylwester, professor emeritus at the University of Oregon. Sylwester has written a number of books and articles about the brain and he spoke on how its development affects young people's relationships to their environment and their role in it.
Before Sylwester spoke, parents indicated they were looking forward to learning how they could be more involved in their teens' lives and what their way of thinking entailed.
Sylwester used a computer-related metaphor after telling the 55 people assembled in the student center that the mystery of teenage brains was not about raging hormones but about development.
"A brain doesn't come on line instantly," he said. "Much of what we know about the brain we've learned in the last 10 to 15 years. We now think there are more than 800 systems within the brain."
He said the brain follows a development path from bottom to top, back to front and from the right to the left hemisphere. It is a self-organizing organ that is genetically driven and species-specific.
The 20-year developmental path of the brain is first keyed to securing survival, Sylwester explained. He said that during the initial four years of life, various systems come on board and individuals learn how to be functioning humans who copy behavior -- such as looking for cars before darting across a street -- in order to live longer. He added that as children, we listen to our elders and comply with their wishes because our brains innately tell us that it is key to survival. He said people also learn things like communication and social skills in the first 10 years.
The second half of the brain's 20-year trek toward full development focuses on learning how to be a productive and reproductive human being, Sylwester said. This includes planning for a vocation and exploring our sexuality and emotional commitments. From a biological perspective, the human brain is always pushing the limits and that is inherent in how we learn, Sylwester explained.
"The thing I found fascinating was the rhythm of maturity," said Mary Carpenter, Parent Teacher Fellowship member. "The first four years are just about survival, so have them stay at home."
Sylwester spoke of frontal lobe development, mirror neurons and prevailing modular theory. His handouts provided more down-to-earth information: The adolescent brain is sensitive to pleasure but the impulse control is not yet mature. That makes teenagers susceptible to things like drug experimentation and early pregnancy; their waking and sleeping habits seem to be two time zones removed, the result of brain development; and teen fascination with scary movies also could be the result of brain development -- the mental mapping system that deals with fear.
When their brains are maturing, they no longer follow the "my parents are always right" instinct that allowed them to survive their early years. The frontal lobe deals with solutions, so these are the years when they question things -- like authority -- and make their own choices.
"We'll all appreciate our kids this week because we know we have no control over their brains," said Elynne Greene, president of the Parent Teacher Fellowship.
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