What’s going on in your teen’s brain – Part 1

In this month’s Maggie Moment, parenting author, educator, and host of the ‘Parental As Anything’ and ‘Good Enough Dad’ podcasts, Maggie Dent explains what’s going on in your teen’s brain as your child crosses over the bridge to adulthood.

There are so many big changes happening as your child’s brain becomes an adult brain. So be prepared for a bumpy window up to the age of sixteen, then even bigger growth again over the age of eighteen.

Some of these brain changes include pruning, remodelling and myelination. Teens have an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, which is gradually growing due to a process called myelination. Simultaneously brain pruning occurs in your teen and this can affect memory and organisation skills. Then as the brain remodels and there’s a growth in dendrites, it also increases their capacity to learn things really quickly.

So please lead with compassion…..remember their brain is growing and changing and that’s not their fault!

Maggie’s 10th and final parenting book launches on the 1st August – Help Me Help My Teen is a reassuring, practical guide for parents to help teenagers navigate adolescence and grow into confident, capable adults. Purchase here.