Just as the human brain sculpts and remolds itself as it ages, much of what is known about the brain is also changing and evolving, Pat Wolfe asserted in her presentation, The Adolescent Brain: A Work in Progress. As new research sheds light on how the brain grows and develops, "it is going to be up to educators who work in that real laboratory called the classroom to take the research, interpret it, and translate it," Wolfe said.
Pat Wolfe
Wolfe, author of the ASCD book Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice, described the brain changes adolescents experience as they mature. "Between ages 7 and 11, the brain is still developing," she said. "By adolescence, students lose about 3 percent of the gray matter in their frontal lobe—this is a natural process where the brain ‘prunes’ away excess materials to make itself more refined and more efficient." Such changes, she said, could indicate why adolescents sometimes have difficulty prioritizing tasks or multitasking.
But changes in the brain aren't the only things that can affect the way it functions. Changes in lifestyles can also have an effect, and sometimes that effect can be negative, Wolfe cautioned. "Some neuroscientists feel that the cerebellum may be responsible for coordination of cognitive activity in addition to muscle and balance coordination," she said. "If that's true, then it's possible that physical activity could increase the effectiveness of the brain and learning. But what are we doing in our schools? We're cutting back on physical education and recess." Curtailing physical activity, she said, could mean that educators are working "in ways that are counter to what the brain may need to do its best thinking."
Other factors, Wolfe noted, can hurt the brain's ability to function as well.
For example, students' alcohol and tobacco use continues to concern educators, but the effect is often misunderstood. "Look, I live in Napa," Wolfe joked. "I like a glass of wine from time to time, but remember, an adolescent's brain is still developing," she said. "Does that mean that excessive intake of alcohol can cause more damage at this stage than at later stages? The answer is yes." The adolescent who binge drinks, she warns, may not be affecting her brain for one night or weekend but possibly for the next 70-plus years. "The impact [of alcohol abuse] will be far greater for adolescents" than for adults, she said.
Although Wolfe cautioned that much of current brain research remains new and inconclusive, she urged participants to share the findings of research with students. "Adolescents are still sculpting their brains as they grow," she said. "We need to let them know what is going on so that they have some control over these things as they grow older."
