Brain Development

Females and males go through brain development milestones. For instance, by the age of five, the brain is, in general mass, nearly completely formed; at around ten, the epic “use-then-prune” of brain cells begins, as does the cognitive development that makes an adult brain think like an adult; at fifteen, these cognitives are nearly formed, and puberty, for the most part, concluded; by twenty, myelination of brain cells (the protective, oozy whute coating over the brain) is mainly completed, thus the brain is technically adult (Gurian).

Brain Development in Females

Both female and male brains are coded to develop neurotransmitter tracks in the brain, so that the brain can learn, live, and accomplish. But quantity of neurotransmitters (the brain’s nerve cells) can differ. The female brain, for instance, is coded to secrete more serotonin than the male. Higher serotonin secretion is directly related to greater impulse control. The female brain also secretes more oxytocin than a male’s. Oxytocin secretion directly relates to play with “care objects” or babies (Gurian).

Brain Development in the Adolescent Girl

• Beginning around the age of ten, and continuing until around the age of twelve, connections in the frontal lobes of the brain are growing almost as fast as they grew during infancy. In other parts of the limbic system (middle of the brain - involved with emotive processing and management of sensory, memory, stress and other stimuli, as well as control of body temperature, sleep cycles and the menstrual cycle) and the cerebral cortex (thinking and decision making, imagination and creation of language), gray matter doubles during this short period of time.
• This brain growth makes her able to take on new skills, new insights, new abstract concepts, new abilities to think and argue. Also, there may be "self-esteem drops" and social miscues as she tries to develop and manage adult character and adult emotional structure.
• At around twelve, after two years of accelerated neural activity, her brain will begin to focus neorotransmission on areas of the brain most often utilized and not on areas underutilized. In the areas of the brain that are underutilized during this time, the brain naturally gets rid of excess gray matter.
• A girl's learning during this time has a greater likelihood of "sticking" or at least "reappearing" later in her life because of the interconnection with the massive brain growth. For example, IN GENERAL, if during this time a girl finds a love of reading, she will be more likely to value reading later in life. If she enjoys piano at eleven, she'll probably remain somewhat musical during her life. If she's in a stable relationship at ten, she'll probably feel safer in stable relationships throughout her life. If a girl is immersed in very effective math teaching at ten, the brain prunes less of these neural cells than those that are unused, and she will be more likely to be able to understand math later in life. Often, what we care about in early adolescence resurfaces in later adoclescence and throughout life.

(Gurian)