22
Nov
Indeed, emerging neuroimaging-based evidence indicates that adolescence may also be a special time for learning from social experiences and this hints at the opening and closing of periods of increased sensitivity to environmental influence (Nelson and Guyer, in press). For example, while most other regions of the brain are influenced by atypical adversity in early in life, the prefrontal cortex appears more vulnerable to such experiences when they occur during adolescence (Andersen et al., 2008).
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929311001113#sec2
Middle school is when people learn social skills: the neuroscientific explanation and its implications for education policy interventions.
