Gray Matter Vs Teenage Brain

The teenage brain is very divergent, when compared to the adults. The prefrontal cortex is still growing, gray matter begins to decrease, and myelin is increasing. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for thinking and judgement; containing 100 billion neurons, sending information from cell body to axon to the axon terminal by electrical pulses. Furthermore, gray matter is located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Gray matter is simply in control of just about everything. It has a lot to do with the nervous system. In addition, the matter directs sensory of the central nervous system to produce a response of chemical synapses. Gray matter along with white matter, similar to gray matter, but contains extended axons, makes up 3 pounds of

the brain. Also, this mixture of gray and white matter makes up 75% of the cerebral cortex. In continuance, myelin is a substance that acts like an insulation to nerve cells. This substance is somewhat fatty and surrounds the nerve cells. Myelin ensures proper electrical pulses are being sent; this is important because if incorrect, then an unnecessary command could be given, which may be fatal. However, at birth, there is barely any insulation to the nerve cells, the insulation does not begin to grow until the beginning of adolescence. Adolescence begins around the age of 13 and ends at about the age of 23. This growth of myelin increases the efficiency and rate of which the messages are sent through the neural system. Moreover, in order for the brain to fully mature it will undergo pruning. This process of development will take place during adolescence. Pruning is when the brain goes through all the information it knows or all it has attained over the years. It then will choose what information is important and what isn’t. This makes room for new information of which the brain will learn.