用生物学理论解释你的孩子为什么特别“疯”

“疯狂青少年”是人们最爱给年轻人贴的社会标签，然而青少年其实完全算不上疯狂。特别是考虑到他们的大脑正在经历的巨大生理变化，大多青少年们的行为反而是非常理性的。这便是知名神经科学家弗朗斯·詹森医生在加州尼古湖召开的第三届财富脑力风暴健康峰会上的发言。

詹森医生是宾西法尼亚大学佩雷尔曼医学院的神经学教授，他在会上指出：“青少年并非‘小一点的成年人’”。青少年的大脑从前部到后部都在发育和重塑。大脑前部的前额皮质主要负责一些关键技能，比如决策能力，自我表达的能力和社会交往的能力等。

“儿童的大脑则没有那么强的关联性。”所以儿童对某些情况的反映常常倾向极端，甚至看似不可理喻。“他们就像刹车不良的法拉利跑车。”

然而现代社会也在影响着儿童和青少年的行为。詹森指出：“过去一千年，人类的大脑结构没有任何变化，但我们的环境有了翻天覆地的变化。”成功的压力、社交媒体焦虑症、药物使用常态化等等都是现代人的压力源，它们很可能会影响到青少年的大脑构造和重构过程。

对此，詹森也给出了自己的建议：“做更好的父母，帮助孩子的前脑发育。”（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

The “crazy teenager” is one of the oldest social tropes around. But adolescents aren’t really crazy at all—in fact, they’re usually acting pretty rationally considering the biological earthquake raging inside their heads, prominent neuroscientist Dr. Frances Jensen explained during the 3rd annual Fortune Brainstorm Health conference in Laguna Niguel, CA.

“Teenagers are not adults with fewer miles on them,” said Jensen, a professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. Brain development and “remodeling” occurs from the back of the brain to the front; the latter portion is what contains the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for critical skills like decision making, the way one expresses his or her personality, and helps dictate social interactions.

“Early in life, children’s brains aren’t as connected,” said Jensen. So reactions to certain situations may come off as extreme even when they seem unwarranted. “They’re kinda like Ferraris with weak brakes at that point.”

But modern society is also affecting these behaviors. “The brain hasn’t changed in the last millennia, but our environment has,” as Jensen puts it. Stressors such as the pressure to succeed and social media anxiety, normalized drug use, and other factors may well influence the structuring (and restructuring) of the teenage brain.

Jensen’s ultimate piece of advice? “Be a better parent and give that frontal lobe an assist.”