Rapidly Changing Teen Brains
Before the routine use of the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), it was difficult to see what was going on inside a teen’s brain. Most of what researchers had to work with were the brains of children and adolescents who had passed away prematurely. Now we can see how the brain’s structure is developing with the help of MRI scans. They show that the teen brain changes rapidly once puberty hits. The prefrontal cortex of the brain is where more complicated behaviors are regulated—more complex decision making, expressing one’s personality, guiding one’s social interactions. This area of the brain has a bit of a renaissance during adolescence. Connections between these brain cells occur at high rates again after being relatively stable throughout childhood. Teen brains also grow more white matter in certain areas of the brain during this time, in the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe. These areas of the brain deal with many different processes, including reasoning, judgment, and impulse control. If you have ever had a run-in with a boss and swallowed your emotions, you can probably control your emotional impulses. A teen’s brain might not let them do the same thing.
The Role of Hormones
Hormones have a role to play in mood. It is thought that the sex hormones (estrogen and testosterone), do affect a teen’s brain, possibly leading to problems with moodiness. Any woman who has had a significant premenstrual syndrome (PMS) knows that hormones affect mood. Surprisingly, it isn’t just these hormones that are linked to a teen’s moodiness. Anyone who has been around an anxious teen (or even an anxious adult) can tell you that anxiety can increase moodiness. If your teen seems a little stressed, she might be more likely to be cranky or irritable than the average adult. This reaction to the hormone THP tends to go away as teens approach adulthood, possibly contributing to fewer episodes of moodiness during stressful times.
Moodiness vs. Depression
Parents often have questions about what is normal moody teen behavior and what is something that is more of a concern. If the moodiness doesn’t last long, it’s probably normal. So if your teen has a bad night and is irritable but is good most of the week, it might be just temporary moodiness. Additionally, depression and other psychiatric disturbances have other signs other than just crankiness or moodiness. For example, teen depression may be accompanied by weight loss or weight gain, sleep disturbances, withdrawal from friends and family, or talk of suicide.
A Word From Verywell
If your teen is moody, don’t worry—it isn’t permanent. As your teen’s brain matures, the moodiness will fade. Hang in there!
