Why teenagers find learning a drag

[steven johnson]

OK, so maybe teenagers do have an excuse.

When children hit puberty, their ability to learn a second language drops, they find it harder to learn their way around a new location and they are worse at detecting errors in cognitive tests.

Why is this? Sheryl Smith and her colleagues at the State University of New York now reckon that all of these behavioural changes could be due to a temporary increase in a chemical receptor that inhibits brain activity in an area responsible for learning.

In 2007, Smith's team discovered that the number of these receptors soared in mice when they hit puberty, before falling back in adulthood. In their latest study, Smith's team set about finding out if these receptor changes in mice might lead to impaired learning abilities, rather like those seen in pubescent humans.

In a further experiment, Smith found that she could remove the learning deficit by injecting pubertal mice with THP – a stress steroid. In children and adult humans, THP is naturally released in response to stress. It reduces brain activity and calms you down, says Smith. But in pubertal mice, THP has the opposite effect – increasing their stress.


Why teenagers find learning a drag

[wtmusic]

1. Thinking about the opposite sex commands more attention?

Seems kind of obvious.

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. Why only the opposite sex?

Seems odd.

[LWolf]

3. There is a lot of pruning of neural connections going on;

very similar to what happens around age 2.

Not a coincidence.

[donco6]

4. It certainly shows in our test scores.

When kids hit 6th grade, they flatline on achievement tests. We thought it was because of the structure of our K-5, 6-8, 9-12 traditional systems. We changed to K-8, 9-12 - but HO! The flatline is still there - though a little better.

Kids as a group don't seem to learn at the same rate all through their career, and individual kids vary wildly from year to year. So much for NCLB's straightline improvement mandate.

[Fire1]

5. Ok, then. Let's start middle school at age 20.

:eyes: