Feedback

The intention of feedback is that someone learns something from their own behavior and then deals with it flexibly. Feedback, which indicates that the previous behavior was wrong, negative feedback, activates areas of the brain in adults that are important for goal-directed behavior. The areas are located in the frontal cortex. One of the areas is called the alarm area (the anterior cingulate cortex). It becomes active when people make mistakes. Research among adolescents shows that this area is still developing during adolescence. In negative feedback, the brains of adolescents showed much less activity than the brains of adults. As a result, adolescents are less capable of punishment and disapproval than adults. The same study found that positive feedback triggered much more brain activity in adolescents.