30 Day Gratitude Project - Day 25

5 more days left! Oooh I am so excited! I cannot wait to do super cool stuff for Thanksgiving! Humhum! Uh, I really should be finishing this blog report-thingie. So...without further hubbub, I am grateful for...

My Prefrontal Cortex

Even though it is not fully developed at my age, my prefrontal cortex helps me to make wise decisions. Because it is not fully developed, the nucleus accumbens is working overtime to make up for what my prefrontal cortex isn't doing. "Good," you might say, "That means your prefrontal cortex must be developing." But that is what gives teenagers the 'do crazy stuff and have fun' phase. The prefrontal cortex:

1. Weighs outcomes
2. Forms judgments
3. Controls impulses and emotions
4. Moderates social behavior

The nucleus accumbens is basically the 'party' part of your brain. Because teenage nucleus accumbens's are working overtime, our behavior comes out of that. We do have control over things, but because our prefrontal cortex is not fully developed, the sense of FUN and NOW are a huge impulse on our actions. So are emotions. We don't mean them to be. Our nucleus accumbens just gets in the way of things. It's quite sad, really, but there you are.

"Oh joy," you say. "Now we have to let these kids get their way." But wait! There's more. Plasticity. In the teenage years, our brains are molded very easily. If we give into our nucleus accumbens, we'll build a habit of it. If we try to go with our prefrontal cortex more, we'll build a habit of that. The more we follow one, the more it will grow. So adults, help us work on following our prefrontal cortex. Because then we can grow up to be better adults than you. Which, as all children know, is our #1 goal.

Brain. Can you find the Nucleus Accumbens and the Prefrontal Cortex?

Have a smiley day!