My Town Tutors is a website that connects parents with teachers who tutor. If you are a teacher who tutors, for a limited time, you can register for using promo code: usteachers. Teachers set the hourly and keep 100% of the fees! One of our teachers made $5,000 last year tutoring.
It is FREE for parents to search for a teacher in their area. Please help us find ONE MORE teacher who tutors!
The Teenage Brain: A World of the Own
The PBS Series “the Secret Life of the Brain” has many great sections to share with a high school psychology class. The video also can be seen at “WatchDocumentary.” which is a great resource for teachers.
The teenage brain section looks at schizophrenia and drug addiction. Below is an outline of the section that works well with a high school psychology unit on the brain.
(0:00 – 3:08) Introduction
(3:08 – 10:58) This section focuses on the development of the adolescent brain. The first section of the video discusses the importance of the frontal cortex and its impact on schizophrenia. Courtney is a teenager who suffers from schizophrenia, a disease that affects the highest level of functioning. Courtney is part of a University of Iowa study on schizophrenia. Doctors look at MRIs to try and determine the cause and effects of schizophrenia. There is a connection between a shrinking prefrontal cortex and schizophrenia.
(10:58 – 13:20) Researchers look at the development of the normal teenage brain. The adolescence is a stressful time for the brain it is difficult for all teenagers to adapt.
(13:20 – 15:45) Doctors look at motor development through home videos. Crawling, Observations are not a predictor of schizophrenia. Babies can show crawling Schizophrenia can be traced back to early development.
(15:45 – 19:10) MRI and the brains reaction to pictures. “I have lost the capacity to interact with the world” is a common response of schizophrenia.
“Lack of motivation, emotionlessness, apathy really got to me.” Courtney
“Just empty and black.” Courtney’s mom
“I didn’t want to live the life I had given. It was so contrary to what I wanted, I didn’t want it anymore.” Courtney. The result was a suicide attempt. Researcher is surprised he did not succeed.
(19:10 – 21:15) Sabrina was a 12-years-old when she went to overnight camp. This was the first time she heard voices. She is now 14 and still has hallucinations and hears voices. “Kill yourself. You are not worth living.” She sees a black hooded figure who will stare at her, try to touch her, kill her. Sometimes the voices will taunt her.
(21:15 – 25:50) Issac heard voices. The researcher comments “We don’t hear with our ears, we hear with our brain. We don’t see with our eyes, we see with our brain… We can hear things that are not there.” There is a misfiring that creates sounds that do not exist. Scientists think that psychosis is caused by increased levels of dopamine. Medication has dropped the voices by about half. “I can hold a job, and I think I can go back to school.” The medication reduces the amount of dopamine interactions. Medication will need to be taken for the rest of her life.
(25:50 – 27:30) Revisits Sabrina and Courtney for updates. 300,000 diagnosed each year. Most cases develop in the late teens.
(27:30 – 36:00) Drugs and adolescence At age 17 admitted to a rehabilitation. “One day I was sober and I realized it was the first time in a long time. I was irritated.” “I still want to smoke each day.”
“All addictive drugs are Trojan horses. They mimic the neurotransmitters.” Caron Foundation teachers lecture to the students. “It tricks my brain. When I wasn’t high, I hated my life.” The teens never say “Hey I want to be a drug addict.”
(36:00 – 41:00) Experiment condenses one night of drinking into 10 minutes. Elika (36) and Justiin (1) have the same blood alcohol levels, but react completely differently.
A low response to alcohol is a good indicator of the possibility of becoming an alcoholic. “Three out of four of my grandparents are alcoholics.”
(41:00 – 47:00) Edward Coleman is a drug addict who participates in an experiment that scans the brain of addicts who have not used cocaine in 2 weeks. Subjects were shown nature scenes and images of explicit drug use. The 2 different videos showed different results.
“It’s like being a victim of a pit bull attack. The only way you can get the pit bull off you is to kill him. I thought I would die. When taking medication, he lost his desire to take drugs.
(47:00 – 52:00) This section interviews the teenagers at the Caron Foundation. The reality is that 8 out of 10 addicts relapse, sometimes years later. Ropes course as a graduation exercise. “I worked through my greatest fear. I can do anything. I can do anything!”
My Town Tutors is a website that connects parents with teachers who tutor. If you are a teacher who tutors, for a limited time, you can register for using promo code: usteachers. Teachers set the hourly and keep 100% of the fees! One of our teachers made $5,000 last year tutoring.
It is FREE for parents to search for a teacher in their area. Please help us find ONE MORE teacher who tutors!
