ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the relation between stress and brain function, and looks at how stress affects the teenage brain. It looks at childhood trauma and considers the role of social media and its impact on mental health. Stress for teenagers may come in the form of anxiety about exams, conflict with parents, rejection within the peer group and from many other social circumstances. We have learnt a considerable amount about how stress affects the teenage brain. Stress affects the amygdala and other areas of the brain to do with the processing of emotion. The chapter discusses the links between stress and learning, before turning to topics related to mental health. The Yerkes–Dodson law proposes an inverted U-shaped curve illustrating the relation between stress and learning. As far as brain development is concerned, it is clear that the brains of those with autistic spectrum condition do function differently from those in the wider population.
