Brain Structures
What is the region of the brain that is involved in a wide range of functions such as decision making, error detection, and impulse control?
The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)
Name a couple factors that contribute to mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression in adolescents.
Answers may include but are not limited to: social media, stress from classes, social lives, family hardships, socioeconomic status, etc.
What percentage of children ages 4-11 meet the criteria for a mental health disorder?
18.1%
After much research, scientists have found that adolescents that suffer from depression typically experience changes in the limbic system of their brain. Can you name how two parts of the limbic system differ in a child with depression versus a healthy child?
The depressed child will experience elevated amygdala activity to negative emotions and less amygdala activity to positive emotions. The hippocampus is also usually smaller in a depressed child.
Eating disorders are a type of mental illness and they affect many adolescents- majority females in their everyday lives. Can you name the three most common eating disorders?
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes people to fear gaining weight and can make them unhealthily thin. Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder where people will binge eat and then try to purge themselves of the food after. Binge eating disorder is when people compulsively overeat.
What percentage of adolescents suffer from a mental health disorder?
Approximately 20% of teens in America suffer from a mental health disorder.
What part of the brain plays a role in the development of anxiety and depression? This part of the brain handles emotion, behavior, and processes fear.
The amygdala.
Which of the following is not a symptom of depression? a. Change in appetite, b. Withdrawal from social life, c. Irritability, d. None of the above, these are all symptoms of depression.
D
What percentage of adolescents receive treatment for a mental health disorder?
About 50.6% of youth in American receive treatment for a mental health disorder.
In depressed adolescents, the connectivities between the sgACC and which two brain regions are different from those of non-depressed adolescents?
There is increased connectivity between the sgACC and amygdala, along with decreased connectivity between the sgACC and frontal cortical regions.
What are the signs and symptoms of OCD?
OCD symptoms include obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are thoughts, impulses, or images that are recurring and persisting, and cause distressing emotions. Compulsions are repetitive physical or mental acts that are aimed to relieve the emotions triggered by the obsessions.
By what age do half of mental health disorders develop?
Half of mental health disorders develop by age 14.