What sex ed doesn’t tell you about your brain - Shannon Odell

Explore what we know— and still don’t know— about puberty and its effects on the body and brain.

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While we often talk about puberty’s effect on the body, what gets overlooked are the fascinating changes that happen in the brain. Puberty, in fact, begins in the brain, and lasts as long as five years. And during this extended process, the brain undergoes its own transformation, thanks to estrogen and testosterone. Shannon Odell details what we know— and still don’t know— about puberty.

Lesson by Shannon Odell, directed by Biljana Labović.

This video made possible in collaboration with Bezos Family Foundation

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[grilledcheezvirtualoniisan]

To be fair, I think most people would have plenty of questions if a puberty magician came to their school

[LoveHandle]

I remember becoming self-aware the second puberty hit me. What a mind-blowing experience I’ll never forget.

[daltonvargas]

What I know about puberty is that it's the worst phase of our lives, but is also the phase where we are most healthy and vigorous and end up not appreciating it at all because of the dilemmas that we create about our own existence.

[ShawnRavenfire]

"Teenagers can make good decisions except under stress." Sounds like the perfect time to push them to choose a career path.

[Milo-tujg]

As a young teen, I appreciate when people post informational videos about ourselves to help us understand more about what were going through. I struggle alot understanding what happens in my brain, and i feel some sort of guilt for not knowing why I am like this. But nobody ever tells us that it's a part of growing and maturing, and its ok to look, feel, and act specific ways during our teen years.

[TristanSamuel]

"Any questions?"
*Proceeds not to answer any questions*

[nakulpatel]

I am in puberty and, honestly, i am enjoying it overall. Sometimes I think that my life is best, other times i consider it the worst. I feel like going out and socializing and dancing sometimes, while the other time, i feel like I should just be in my room and listen to some soulful songs. Yes its a mess but i am enjoying it.

[osheridan]

"What's wrong bro?"
"Sorry, my amygdala is growing"
"..."

[hope-.]

"The brain is wider than the sky."
Thank you, I almost forgot I even had brain in the first place.

[sizanogreen]

Yeah... 14-19 were the worst years of my life, so far. And that is including the fact that 21-25 so far have been full of chronic sickness and periods of depression. It is an impactfull time but I'd say I personally would have been happier without many of the experiences during puberty.

[earthboundisawsome]

I do wish that psychology and mental health was focused on so much more in middle and high schools. There are still things I'm learning in my mid to late 20s about what changes I went through at that point in life. Sure we'll always be learning new things, but it'd be so nice to be able to focus on something when it's a current part of your life.

[johnsmith-htsy]

I only developed at age 17, it was tough being the smallest boy at school, but I shot up to 6 feet tall. The good thing about my families DNA is that we always look much younger than our age. So the wait for puberty was worth it. I am now 65 and according to others telling me that I look 50.

[notbun]

People talking about ups and downs during their puberty years and i feel like ive been on a downward spiral since i turned twelve

[MeemahSN]

I swear, puberty has done nothing to me. So many people talk about how horrible it is, and how different they all feel, but honestly I feel no different. The whole hormones thing, I don’t think I’ve ever noticed before. I feel the same way I did when I was 12. Did I miss out on the whole “universal experience” everyone else seems to have gotten?

[imthebossmermaid]

Thanks for an understanding video that gets how teenagers work. I feel like we are all given a bad rap that we honestly don’t deserve and this is due to movies and television. So great work!

[Samantha-vlly]

Maturity hit me earlier without realizing it(around 14 or 15 y/o)because I always surround myself with people that will help me to grow and not just for fun. My personal interest also played a big role in me.

[snehasharma]

*Puberty is a havoc of the hormones. Confusing and sometimes uncontrollable series of Emotions that we may be not able to explain sometime.*
*I am currently in its late stage(18), but to be sure, my brain is much more relaxed than it was in my early adolescence (13-17).*

[adityajaiswal]

"Teens are just as capable as adults of making thoughtful decisions when given the time and space.It's only during high stress or in the heat of the moment that teens may find it more difficult to manage emotions.".. Makes sense.. #Proudbeingteen ❤😌

[gazopiesz]

Thank you for sticking to biological facts and explaining it in easy manner!

[TechnicalBurhan]

Uk what I think is that adolescence is a stage when you make a billion mistakes but you also learn from them and it prepares you for the real life challenges. Also it's easy to get over relationships and cut off people from your life. Atleast that's what I have seen yet