Why teen brains shut down when being criticized

A new study has revealed that teens block negative remarks when they are being criticized as a preventative measure in order to stop situation from spiraling out of control.

Now there is scientific evidence backing up the claim that teenagers shut down their brains and stop listening when they think they are being criticized, the Independent reported.

Study by University of Pittsburgh, California-Berkeley and Harvard neuroscientists found that young people who seem stroppy and stubborn are not doing it just to be difficult, as they simply cannot help blocking out negative remarks when they feel they are under verbal attack.

Three areas of the brain were analyzed in the study; the limbic system, where negative emotion is processed, the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion, and the junction of the temporal and parietal lobes, which helps in understanding the perspectives of others.

Researchers found that during criticism and for a period afterwards, teenagers were found to have reduced activity in the areas relating to emotional control and compassion, with an increase in negative feelings.

The study suggested that the results are not significantly impacted by the gender, age or mental health of the teenagers.

The research concluded that kids shuts down social processing and possibly do not think about their parents' mental states.

The experiment did not state or test out whether the same situation occurred when dads criticized their kids.

The study is published in the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience journal.