Teen Celebs: Moody, Impulsive, And…Losing Gray Matter

By Alicia Sparks

I’ve read numerous blogs, “news” articles (though really, I have no idea how this falls into the category of “news”), and “tweets” focused on how mean, rude, snotty, and overall nasty certain young celebs are these days.

Miley Cyrus made fun of fellow Disney stars Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato (supposedly over a Jonas brother - so, pretty typical teenage stuff).

Hayden Panettiere supposedly screamed at reporters at a red carpet event for the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific Foundation claiming they all made her life miserable.

And let’s not forget March’s popular “kristen stewart seems really mean” search.

Like me, most of you probably chalk this behavior up to old-fashioned teenage hormones sprinkled with ego-inflating super stardom and went on about life. (And, with stuff like this being slung at them, I really don’t blame them sometimes. I’d be a bit vicious, too.)

However, according to the findings of Jay Giedd (National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland) and his team of researchers, hormones are going to have to start sharing the spotlight with the natural loss of gray matter:

This reduction trims unused neural connections that were overproduced in the childhood growth spurt, starting with the more basic sensory and motor areas of the brain.

But, that’s not the real clincher.

Among the last to mature is the very front of the brain’s frontal lobe, which is involved in control of impulses, judgment and decision-making, which scientists say might explain some of the bizarre decisions made by the average teenager.

This area also controls and processes emotional information sent from the amygdala - the fight or flight center of gut reactions - which may account for the short-tempers among some teenagers.

Hello. That could definitely offer an explanation for some of the bizarre decisions of famous and not-so-famous teenagers alike. The research also suggests these brain changes occur until the early 20s. Hi, Lohan. And this might also shed some light on why Harry Potter actor Jamie Waylett thought keeping a hydroponic farm at his home was a good idea. Who knows.

As far as moodiness and questionable behavior is concerned, we’ve all been there and done that - especially when we were teens. Of course, we can’t blame everything on hormones and brain development. At some point - regardless of age or red carpet proximity - everyone has to slow down and take a good, hard look at what they’re doing.


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