Development During

Adolescence
 Adolescence

 Transitional period of growth and changes

 Marked by the onset of puberty
 Between the ages of 10 to 19, teenage
 Varies from person to person
Physical Development
 Puberty
 Marks the onset of adolescence
 Rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and
bodily changes
 On set is influenced by heredity and environmental
factors
 Changes During Puberty
 Not a single, sudden event. Involves many changes
 Sexual maturation; development of reproductive
organs
 Known as development of ‘primary sexual
characteristics’
 Development of secondary sexual characteristics
 Summary

Adolescence

Puberty

Primary Sex Secondary Sex

Characteristics Characteristics
 The Growth Spurt

 A rapid increase in height and weight

 Starts earlier in girls
 Males grow muscles
 Females experience increase in body fat and bones
become harder
 Affected by both nature and nurture
 Hormonal Change
 In boys, testosterone level increases during puberty
 In girls, estradiol level increases
 Responsible for the associated changes
 Affected by stress, exercise, eating patterns etc
 Variation in Pubertal Development
 Puberty can be a source of pride or
embarrassment
 Precocious puberty leads to a number of
problems
 Challenges for boys are more related to late
development
 Brain Development During Adolescence
1. Corpus callosum thickens in adolescence
This improves adolescents’ ability to process
information.
2. In the prefrontal cortex, myelination and synaptic
pruning increases during adolescence.
 Increase the efficiency of thinking, decision-making
etc
3. Amygdala, part of the limbic system, matures earlier
 Role in processing emotional experience
 The difference in timing of the development of these
two different regions of the brain contributes to more
risk taking during middle adolescence
 Sleep
 Brain development even affects the way teens sleep.
 Teens are often drowsy upon waking, tired during the
day, and wakeful at night.
 This is because of rise and fall of melatonin levels in
these times
 Related Question
Fifteen-year-old
brain. Alex doesn't have his driver's license yet, but
he jumps at the chance to race his friend's car. The thrill of
taking this risk outweighs any long-term consequences for
Alex, which could be because during adolescence, the ______
matures before the ______ in the brain.
a) Prefrontal cortex, amygdala
b) Limbic system, prefrontal cortex
c) Prefrontal cortex, Limbic system
Thank You!