PS280 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Prefrontal Cortex, Limbic System, Mesolimbic Pathway
Document Summary
During adolescence: adolescent brain is 12-25 years of age, brain is under construction, not complete till approximately 25, avoid drug use in adolescent years, during adolescence the brain is particularly susceptible to lifetime addiction. It is suggested that repeated drug use can teach the brain to seek the substances over other, healthier rewards: researchers suggest that dopamine is particularly abundant and active during adolescence. Video the secret life of the brain (ep 3 the teenage brain: a world of their own: https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=fgaz_fhlhnu. Schizophrenia: the brain is full size by 20, prefrontal cortex makes us uniquely human (still developing in adolescence, allow us to make future plans. Involved in areas like personal responsibility, morality and self-control: the brain is developing shaping personality, behaviour and identity, schizophrenia strikes most often during adolescence, schizophrenia is as complex as the brain itself. Its never been possible to identify an obvious disease related feature that distinguish schizophrenia from all other conditions.
