Working with young people

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adolescence is the transition from

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childhood to adulthood

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encompassing a period of major physical

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emotional intellectual and social change

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our brains also change considerably

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during this time the developing brain is

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a learning machine and from when we're

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born

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it grows enormous ly as we learn more

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and more about the world

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this means we end up with billions of

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connections in our brains but many of

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these pathways are either too slow or

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not needed it's during the teenage years

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that our brains are renovated whereby

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most of these unnecessary connections

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are removed or pruned away at the same

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time the connections that are kept are

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insulated to allow for faster

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communication across the brain a process

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called myelination pruning and

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myelination occurred gradually over the

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teenage years and are greatly influenced

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by our experiences and interactions with

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the outside world including the alcohol

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and drugs we choose to take let's take a

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closer look inside the brain the frontal

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lobes take the longest to develop by

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about 25 they've become your Center for

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decision making helping you to plan and

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organize focus your attention control

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your mood and behavior and solve

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day-to-day problems the temporal lobes

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are like an information processing

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center that builds your library for

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sounds speech learning and memories the

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cerebellum integrates your senses

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helping you to balance control and

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fine-tune your movements the

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hypothalamus is involved in many

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functions including the release of

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hormones that help regulate your

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temperature hunger thirst and sexual

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development and the brainstem is like

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the final checkpoint for information

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going to the body from the brain and

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vice versa

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alcohol affects the teenage brain

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differently to the adult brain because

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it's still developing and not all areas

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are fully operational how you feel when

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you drink alcohol can be an indication

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of the damage it's doing to different

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areas in your brain alcohol affects the

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frontal lobes first making you feel

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relaxed and reducing your inhibitions

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this means you may talk more freely Axl

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out or rowdy or do foolish things you

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later regret

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as you continue drinking your brain

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starts slowing down reducing your

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ability to concentrate make good

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decisions and control your emotions and

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impulses this means you might do things

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you otherwise wouldn't in the

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hypothalamus alcohol blocks the hormone

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that tells the kidneys to reabsorb water

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this means more water is lost as waste

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reducing the amount of water available

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to the brain makes you dehydrated which

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explains the headaches and body aches

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you may experience the next day

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otherwise known as a hangover alcohols

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effect on your cerebellum is evident

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when you lose your balance and fall over

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or have difficulties with standing and

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walking this is why injuries are so

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common when people are intoxicated

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drinking alcohol particularly affects a

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part of the temporal lobe called the

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hippocampus which enables us to form new

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memories alcohol interferes with the

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transfer of information from short-term

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memory to long-term memory so if you

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drink heavily over a short period you

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may experience a blackout meaning the

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next day you can't remember what you

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said or did drinking at a level that

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causes blackouts means you're also much

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more likely to do something you wouldn't

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usually do and your friends may not be

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aware of how drunk you really are during

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your teenage years you need to look

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after your brain to keep it healthy just

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like other parts of your body our

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scientists are learning more about the

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brain all the time and research has

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shown that the damage alcohol does to

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the developing brain is not only

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short-term but may be permanent

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look after your brain it's the only one

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you've got

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during our teenage years how we interact

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with the world changes we seek out new

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interests and experiences take more

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risks and spend more time with our

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friends and less with our family these

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behaviors have developed through

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evolution to make sure we push ourselves

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so that we learn to become independent

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from our parents by putting ourselves in

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new and challenging situations different

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parts of our brain learn to work

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together

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forming brain circuits that can

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communicate with each other rapidly to

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help us respond in different ways

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ensuring that our brain is wide in the

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right way during the teenage years with

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strong and healthy brain circuits is

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critical to our future and how we get

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the most out of life 3 the most

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important circuits that are developing

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during this period are those involved in

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learning and memory motivation and mood

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learning in memory circuits control our

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ability to receive store and recall

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information

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our motivation circuit is supported by

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an inbuilt reward system that helps us

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to decide if something is important and

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whether we should do something to get it

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our mood is shaped by emotional circuits

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that interpret how we experience and

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react to different situations and

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interactions making sure these

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particular circuits wire in the right

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way during our teenage years is the

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brain zone occupational health and

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safety team the endocannabinoid system

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the endocannabinoid system is a complex

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and delicate brain system which helps to

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fine-tune communication within these

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circuits ensuring the wiring is

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assembled correctly damaged cells are

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repaired and the right connections are

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strengthened for the future when looking

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into the effect of cannabis on the brain

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scientists found that we naturally

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produce a brain chemical called an and

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amide that is similar to cannabis

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concentrations of an and amide are

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delicately calibrated for it to

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accomplish its critical role within the

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endocannabinoid system this is why if we

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add cannabis into the brain it causes

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the endocannabinoid system to become

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flooded with cannabis chemicals it's a

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bit like dumping a bucket of salt on

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your chips instead of a pinch or like

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stadium speakers being plugged into your

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iPod constantly disrupting the

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endocannabinoid system with cannabis

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impacts how your brain develops and in

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particular how the mood motivation and

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learning and memory circuits get wired

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short-term memory loss is a common

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characteristic of long-term heavy

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cannabis use because when you use

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cannabis less information gets saved as

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memories this is why it's harder to

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learn and remember new information which

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can lead to significant drops in school

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grades cannabis can reduce your ability

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to focus attention to organize yourself

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and make decisions not just when you're

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using cannabis but for weeks afterwards

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cannabis use can also lead to loss of

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motivation heavy users can feel detached

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and disinterested in things they used to

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like such as sports hobbies and catching

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up with friends it can also lead to low

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self confidence that

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turn affects your mood making it more

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difficult to manage everyday stresses

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worries and frustrations which can

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result in prolonged low mood anxiety and

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depression while these effects are

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commonly experienced by people who use

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cannabis regularly new research suggests

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that these effects are worse and more

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permanent for people who start using

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cannabis while their brain is still

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developing this is because the

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endocannabinoid system plays a central

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role in the development of your neural

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circuitry during the teenage years the

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developing brain has a pretty good

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blueprint to work off but our

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experiences and interactions with the

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outside world also help to shape these

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neural circuits that we will rely on as

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adults your teenage years are an

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adventure that sets you up for life

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enjoy the ride and look up your brain

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it's the only one you've got