While going through the long and exhausting process of puberty, not only does one’s body change but so does their brain. These brain changes are exactly why sometimes teenagers just don’t seem to respond to their mother’s voices.
In order to prove this, Daniel Abrams, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, along with a few others began a study that included children ranging from 7 to 16 years old. The children’s mothers would say a word in gibberish – so that the children would pay attention to the voice, and not the words – and the scientists would scan their brains to see what was going on. After that, the researchers would repeat the process with adult women that the children didn’t know. The results showed that the teenagers paid more attention to the stranger’s voices, as opposed to the younger children who paid more attention to their mothers’ voices.
The results were shared with the public on April 28th, 2022, in the Journal of Neuroscience. Many were confused on why the teenagers were paying more attention to the strangers, as Abrams had done another study that showed that younger children paid more attention to their mother’s voices. What change happened to the children between these two periods? Puberty.
Puberty is a time during which children’s bodies change. It usually happens between 10 and 16 years old. Many people know that puberty could change one’s body, but not many people know that it could actually change their brain as well. One of these changes that happen allows the brain to focus more on unfamiliar voices.
The brain changes don’t necessarily make it so that a teen stops responding to their mother completely, but make it so that they value a stranger’s voice above their mother’s or any familiar person’s voice. In simpler terms, the brain filters out the things that a teen are used to, and allows the new voice to settle in instead. This is good because when a teen reaches maturity, they need to expand their connections past their family, so their brain will pay more attention to the outer world.
“Just as an infant is turned into a mom, adolescents have this whole other class of sounds and voices that they need to tune into,” says Abram.
Mother’s voices still wield a special power, which is that they can calm their children down. A study in 2011 showed that when a child is in stressful situations, their mother’s voice can calm them down. This means that children will calm down more during a facetime or video chat rather than while reading a text message from their mother.
Leslie Seltzer, a biological anthropologist who was part of the 2011 study says that “As we mature, our survival depends less and less on maternal support,” In conclusion, the changes in teenagers’ brains help them s transition from being in their mother’s care to being independent. And despite their negative consequences, the changes are really important for successful socialization during adulthood.
Sources: sciencenews.org sciencenewsforstudents.org medlineplus.gov
In order to prove this, Daniel Abrams, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, along with a few others began a study that included children ranging from 7 to 16 years old. The children’s mothers would say a word in gibberish – so that the children would pay attention to the voice, and not the words – and the scientists would scan their brains to see what was going on. After that, the researchers would repeat the process with adult women that the children didn’t know. The results showed that the teenagers paid more attention to the stranger’s voices, as opposed to the younger children who paid more attention to their mothers’ voices.
The results were shared with the public on April 28th, 2022, in the Journal of Neuroscience. Many were confused on why the teenagers were paying more attention to the strangers, as Abrams had done another study that showed that younger children paid more attention to their mother’s voices. What change happened to the children between these two periods? Puberty.
Puberty is a time during which children’s bodies change. It usually happens between 10 and 16 years old. Many people know that puberty could change one’s body, but not many people know that it could actually change their brain as well. One of these changes that happen allows the brain to focus more on unfamiliar voices.
The brain changes don’t necessarily make it so that a teen stops responding to their mother completely, but make it so that they value a stranger’s voice above their mother’s or any familiar person’s voice. In simpler terms, the brain filters out the things that a teen are used to, and allows the new voice to settle in instead. This is good because when a teen reaches maturity, they need to expand their connections past their family, so their brain will pay more attention to the outer world.
“Just as an infant is turned into a mom, adolescents have this whole other class of sounds and voices that they need to tune into,” says Abram.
Mother’s voices still wield a special power, which is that they can calm their children down. A study in 2011 showed that when a child is in stressful situations, their mother’s voice can calm them down. This means that children will calm down more during a facetime or video chat rather than while reading a text message from their mother.
Leslie Seltzer, a biological anthropologist who was part of the 2011 study says that “As we mature, our survival depends less and less on maternal support,” In conclusion, the changes in teenagers’ brains help them s transition from being in their mother’s care to being independent. And despite their negative consequences, the changes are really important for successful socialization during adulthood.
Sources: sciencenews.org sciencenewsforstudents.org medlineplus.gov
