Romeo And Juliet Research Paper

When I heard about the death of Romeo and Juliet, I was shocked. As an expert in cognitive and computational neuroscience, I could not resist myself from trying to find what their minds were undergoing prior to their death. After continuous research and analyzing Romeo’s and Juliet’s actions, I found that their deaths may actually have been caused by a psychogenic factor. Up until this point in time, your fellow Montagues, Capulets, and yourself as well have thought that the reason the two lovers died was for their unconditional love for each other. However, being adolescents, Romeo and Juliet were influenced by their immature minds to make impulsive decisions.

The combination of an adolescent’s expanding prefrontal cortex, which processes

For instance, when Friar Laurence warns Romeo of the potential dangers that could arise out of his marriage, Romeo does not organize, and understand the information the same way an adult would (“Inside the Teenage Brain”). In normal scenarios, a mature adult would have listened to Friar Laurence’s warning; however, Romeo, who did not have a fully functional frontal lobe, lets his emotions take over his decision. Moreover, as soon as Romeo discovers Juliet’s dead body, he “[acts] on impulse—without regard for risk” (National Institute of Mental Health). Without thinking of the people he would affect around him, Romeo kills himself because the parts of his brain which are involved in emotions have matured, while the parts such as the frontal lobe, which are used to keep emotions in check, are still developing. Later on, Romeo not only kills himself but also affected Juliet’s death because she, not having a mature frontal lobe, let her emotions, which was to kill herself, overpower her logical thoughts when she saw her husband dead. Therefore, Romeo and Juliet were not aware that their decisions were impulsive because their minds were not fully