Adolescence is a time of major change and development. For some teenagers, it is a tumultuous but ultimately positive experience. For others, however, their struggles may go beyond acne and awkwardness. It has long been known that many psychiatric disorders, such as depression, eating disorders, and anxiety, tend to manifest in adolescents, but the reasons for this have not been properly explained. Researchers have looked at numerous factors including the amount of grey matter present and synaptic pruning (a process by which the brain gets rid of unnecessary connections between neurons). However, there is a lot still currently unknown about psychiatric disorders in adolescents.
A recent study conducted by scientists at the University of Oxford has cast light on another aspect of adolescent brain changes. By using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), researchers studied the changes in synaptic connection in the adolescent brain. Synapses are places where neurons communicate with each other by using chemicals called neurotransmitters. The number and type of synaptic connections in different areas of the brain allow them to work together and produce complex pathways that allow us to think and function.
The researchers ultimately found evidence for two types of synaptic changes, described as conservative and disruptive. Conservative changes strengthen the neural pathways between already-connected areas of the brain. This type of development takes place in the sensory and motor areas of the brain. The other type of change, disruptive change, weakens connections in established areas while forming and strengthening connections in previously sparse areas. This takes place in the association and limbic cortices, which are associated with more abstract and complex skills. These include the theory of mind, which is the ability of a person to understand and predict the emotional state of another individual. Different forms of memory, such as working memory and autobiographical memory, also develop through disruptive changes. Working memory is the amount of information the brain can hold and manipulate at any given time, while autobiographical memory is all of the memory that is related to your life, knowledge, and experience.
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Researchers concluded that the changes that occur during adolescence promote the development of more complex social skills and information processing. In addition, they found that the instability of connections during puberty is similar to the fluctuations in brain connectivity that a patient with depression experiences, suggesting a potential reason for the increased risk of developing a psychiatric disorder in adolescence. Further research to uncover the mechanisms by which disruptive change occurs may have implications for improving the identification and treatment of mental illnesses in young adults.
Featured Image Source: Gerd Altmann
