Brains in the making

Not finished yet? Their brains are still growing! Here's a closer look at a human brain that never stops shaping itself, at a time when a public symposium on the subject is being held in Montpellier.
Adolescence, that great upheaval, has undoubtedly not revealed all its mysteries. What hasn't been a mystery for a long time is that this period of physical metamorphosis brings with it a host of identity problems. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg: we now know that the metamorphosis is also cerebral.

Neuronal efflorescence

Many of the disorders of adolescence - attention disorders, impaired judgment, difficulties processing information, etc. - are far more likely to be linked to neuronal efflorescence than to any other factor," asserts Dr. Robert Brès, a psychiatrist specializing in adolescence. - are far more likely to be linked to neuronal efflorescence than to any other factor," asserts Dr. Robert Brès, a psychiatrist specializing in adolescence.

" During this key period, our brain starts to grow in all directions in an anarchic way," he explains.

During this period, building oneself is akin to " gardening ". The metaphor reflects a concrete reality: the work of the glial system. " Glial cells have a dual function. They envelop axons, increasing the speed at which signals can be transmitted from one neuron to another. But they are also there to cut off little-used afferences ". A system whose raison d'être is to bring order to a blossoming neuronal mess...

Experimenting with thought

An order that can be acquired in other ways: through culture, language and artistic expression," explains Robert Brès. At the Maison des Adolescents 34, he receives young people aged 11 to 21. " They are often asked: "What do you want to be when you grow up? It's a question they can't answer. They need to acquire the full functioning of thought: that operation which consists, etymologically, of 'weighing up' ideas ".
An activity that teenagers often dismiss as particularly burdensome. Nothing could be more normal...

It's impossible to ask a teenager to think like an adult," continues Robert Brès. But we can't fix them in this status, because we have to take into account their specificity: they're neither a child who's grown up, nor a miniature adult.

A place to listen and a center for a wide range of resources, the Maison des Adolescents gives them the opportunity to express themselves in other ways: writing, drawing, relaxation... Creative practices that enable them to experiment with their thoughts, so as to better master them. They also experience encounters with adults: cultural organizers, social workers, nursing staff... "Encounters can be a spark of creativity. Encounters can be a spark and open doors," says Robert Brès. Even if these are often internal doors.

• Master brain on his perched man... Colloquium for the general public on the brain, October 22-23, 2015, Montpellier Academy of Sciences and Letters.