Neil: Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Neil.
Rob: And I'm Rob.
Neil: What do you remember of your
teenage years?
Rob: Oh, I was a nightmare. I was rude to
my parents, always stayed out late, never
did my homework, hung out with the
wrong people and made lots
of bad decisions. How about you, Neil?
Neil: Well, much the same really. People
always say that about teenagers, don’t
they? That they go through a period where
they are out of control and behave badly.
But, apparently, it’s not their fault, at least
not directly.
Rob: So whose fault is it?
Neil: Our brains’, apparently. Teenagers’
brains are still developing in areas that
control behaviour, which could mean that
you can’t blame them for acting the way
they do. Before we find out more, let’s
have our question. There have always
been teenagers, but when was the word
‘teenager’ first used to
refer to the 13 – 19 age group? Was it:
a) the 1920s, b) the 1930s, c) the 1950s
Any ideas, Rob?
Rob: Well, I think it came along around the
time of rock and roll, so that would have
made it the 1950s. That’s my guess.
Neil: I'll have the answer later in the
programme. Sarah-Jayne Blakemore from
University College London specialises in
the workings of the brain, particularly the
teenage brain. Recently she was a guest
on the BBC Radio programme,
The Life Scientific. She explained that the
understanding that the brain is still developing
during the teenage years is quite new.
When does she say the first research came out?
The first study showing that the human
brain undergoes this very substantial and
significant development throughout
adolescence and into the twenties: the
first papers were published in the late 90s.
Before that, and for example
when I was at university, the dogma in the
text books was that the vast majority of
brain development goes on in the first few
years of life and nothing much changes
after mid-childhood. That dogma is
completely false.
Neil: So when did the research into the
teenage brain come out?
Rob: Surprisingly, it wasn’t until the late
1990s. This was when she said that the
first papers on this subject were published.
Papers in this context means the results
of scientific research which are published.
Neil: And she didn’t actually talk about
teenagers, did she?
Rob: No, that’s right. She talked about the
period of adolescence. This noun,
adolescence, is the period when someone
is developing from a child into an adult
and it more or less is the same as the
teenage years.
Neil: What I found interesting was that
before the 1990s people believed
something different about the way our
brains develop.
Rob: Yes, Professor Blakemore said that
the dogma had been that our brains are
mostly fully developed in early childhood,
long before adolescence. Dogma is a
word used to describe a strong belief that
people are expected to accept as true.
Neil: So our brains are still developing
much later than was originally thought.
What does this tell us about teenage
behaviour? Of particular interest is an
important part of the brain called the
prefrontal cortex. Here is Professor
Blakemore again. What excuse can she
give for teenagers who don’t get their
homework done in time?
The prefrontal cortex is the part of the
brain right at the front, just behind the
forehead and it’s involved in a whole
range of very high-level cognitive tasks
such as decision making and planning -
we know that this region
is undergoing very very large amounts of
development during the adolescent years.
And so in terms of the expectations that
we place on teenagers to, for example,
plan their homework, it might be too
much given that we know that the region
of the brain that critically involved in
planning is not developed yet.
Neil: So the prefrontal cortex is important
in cognitive tasks. What are those, Rob?
Rob: A cognitive task is one that requires
conscious thinking and processing, such
as making decisions and planning. It
doesn’t happen automatically,
you have to think about it. So in the
adolescent years this part of the brain is
not fully developed. Note the adjective
form here of the noun we had earlier
adolescence.
Neil: So this gives a good excuse for not
doing your homework!
Rob: Ha, ha, I wish I’d known that. I used to say
that I’d left my homework on the bus or
that the dog had eaten it. Now I could say,
"Sorry sir, my brain isn’t developed enough
for the cognitive task of planning my homework".
Neil: Yes, I’m sure that would work! Before
we wrap up, time to get the answer to this
week’s question. I asked when was the
word ‘teenager’
first used to refer to the 13 – 19 age
group? Was it:
a) the 1920s, b) the 1930s, c) the 1950s
Rob, you said?
Rob: I guessed c) the 1950s.
Neil: The answer is actually b) the 1930s.
Very well done if you knew that. Now a
quick review of today’s vocabulary.
Rob: Adolescence is the noun for the
period of change from child to adult and
the adjective is adolescent – this same
word is also the noun for someone who is
in that teenage period.
Neil: So an adolescent might be
responsible for adolescent behaviour in
his or her adolescence.
Rob: Exactly.
Neil: Papers is the word for published
scientific research.
Rob: Dogma is strongly held beliefs that
are not challenged.
Neil: The prefrontal cortex is an important
part of the brain which deals with
cognitive tasks.
Rob: And cognitive tasks are mental
processes that require active thought and
consideration, such as planning and
making decisions.
Neil: Well my decision-making skills tell
me that it’s time to finish.
Rob: Well, your skills are working well,
Neil. We may be going now but you don't
need to – you can listen or watch us
again and find lots more Learning English
materials on our social media platforms.
You can also visit our website
at bbclearningenglish.com.
Neil: See you soon, bye.
Rob: Bye!