原文擷取出處：HSW | Molly Edmonds
In adults, various parts of the brain work together to evaluate choices, make decisions and act accordingly in each situation. The teenage brain doesn't appear to work like this. For comparison's sake, think of the teenage brain as an entertainment center that hasn't been fully hooked up. There are loose wires, so that the speaker system isn't working with the DVD player, which in turn hasn't been formatted to work with the television yet. And to top it all off, the remote control hasn't even arrived!
為方便比較，我們把青少年的大腦想像成一個未組裝完備的影音娛樂系統，因為電線鬆動，揚聲系統無法與DVD一起使用，其格式不對，反過來又無法與電視一起使用、最糟糕的是，遙控器甚至還沒有送達。
The brain's remote control is the prefrontal cortex, a section of the brain that weighs outcomes, forms judgments and controls impulses and emotions. This section of the brain also helps people understand one another. If you were to walk into a sports bar full of Lakers fans wearing a Celtics jersey, your prefrontal cortex would immediately begin firing in warning; those teams are bitter enemies, and it might serve you to change your behavior (and your clothes). The prefrontal cortex communicates with the other sections of the brain through connections called synapses. These are like the wires of the entertainment system.
大腦的遙控器就是前額葉皮層，具有權衡後果、形成判斷、控制衝動及情感的功能，此部位還幫助人們理解彼此。如果你穿著波士頓卡爾特人隊球衫走進一個運動酒吧，發現滿屋都是湖人隊的球迷，你的前額葉皮層立馬就開始升溫，你知道湖人和卡爾特人兩隊視對方為死敵，於是它會讓你改變自己的行為（和衣著）。
What scientists have found is that teenagers experience a wealth of growth in synapses during adolescence. But if you've ever hooked up an entertainment center, you know that more wires means more problems. You tend to keep the components you use the most, while getting rid of something superfluous, like an out-of-date laserdisc player. The brain works the same way, because it starts pruning away the synapses that it doesn't need in order to make the remaining ones much more efficient in communicating. In teenagers, it seems that this process starts in the back of the brain and moves forward, so that the prefrontal cortex, that vital center of control, is the last to be trimmed. As the connections are trimmed down, an insulating substance called myelin coats the synapses to protect them.
科學家發現，在青春期青少年的神經鍵會大量地增長，保留常用的部件以及捨棄多餘的東西。大腦修剪神經鍵，為的是讓其更有效率地進行聯絡。對青少年而言，這個過程似乎從大腦後部開始，再移向前端。因此，至關重要的控制中心——前額葉皮層——就成了最後才被涉及的區域。連結在被一步步裁剪的過程中，一種叫髓磷脂的絕緣物質覆蓋住神經鍵，起保護作用。
As such, the prefrontal cortex is a little immature in teenagers as compared to adults; it may not fully develop until your mid-20s [source: Kotulak]. And if you don't have a remote control to call the shots in the brain, using the other brain structures can become more difficult. Imaging studies have shown that most of the mental energy that teenagers use in making decisions is located in the back of the brain, whereas adults do most of their processing in the frontal lobe [source: Wallis]. When teenagers do use the frontal lobe, it seems they overdo it, calling upon much more of the brain to get the job done than adults would [source: Powell]. And because adults have already refined those communicating synapses, they can make decisions more quickly.
就此而言，相比成年人，青少年的前額葉皮層較為不成熟，它需要到25歲左右才能完全成熟。而且如果青少年不使用大腦“遙控器”發號施令，就只能費力地占用大腦其他結構。當青少年占用腦額葉時，他們要比成人利用更多的大腦部位來完成任務，實屬操之過當。
Adult brains are also better wired to notice errors in decision-making. While adults performed tasks that required the quick response of pushing buttons, their brains sent out a signal when a hasty mistake was made. Before 80 milliseconds had passed, adult brains had noticed the blunder, but teenage brains didn't notice any slip-up [source: Monastersky].
當成人在完成需要快速作出反應的任務時，大腦會在快速決策的同時發出一個信號，而青少年的大腦往往發現不了不妥之處。
An area of the teenager's brain that is fairly well-developed early on, though, is the nucleus accumbens, or the area of the brain that seeks pleasure and reward. In imaging studies that compared brain activity when the subject received a small, medium or large reward, teenagers exhibited exaggerated responses to medium and large rewards compared to children and adults. When presented with a small reward, the teenagers' brains hardly fired at all in comparison to adults and children.
然而，青少年大腦中倒是有一個區域在早期就發育得相當成熟，這個區域就是伏隔核，大腦中尋求快感和獎勵的區域。
So what does it mean to have an undeveloped prefrontal cortex in conjunction with a strong desire for reward? As it happens, this combination could explain a lot of stereotypical teenage behavior.
不完善的前額葉皮層連同對獎勵的強烈欲望，這又意味著什麼呢？很巧，這種結合能解釋很多典型的青少年行為。
為方便比較，我們把青少年的大腦想像成一個未組裝完備的影音娛樂系統，因為電線鬆動，揚聲系統無法與DVD一起使用，其格式不對，反過來又無法與電視一起使用、最糟糕的是，遙控器甚至還沒有送達。
The brain's remote control is the prefrontal cortex, a section of the brain that weighs outcomes, forms judgments and controls impulses and emotions. This section of the brain also helps people understand one another. If you were to walk into a sports bar full of Lakers fans wearing a Celtics jersey, your prefrontal cortex would immediately begin firing in warning; those teams are bitter enemies, and it might serve you to change your behavior (and your clothes). The prefrontal cortex communicates with the other sections of the brain through connections called synapses. These are like the wires of the entertainment system.
大腦的遙控器就是前額葉皮層，具有權衡後果、形成判斷、控制衝動及情感的功能，此部位還幫助人們理解彼此。如果你穿著波士頓卡爾特人隊球衫走進一個運動酒吧，發現滿屋都是湖人隊的球迷，你的前額葉皮層立馬就開始升溫，你知道湖人和卡爾特人兩隊視對方為死敵，於是它會讓你改變自己的行為（和衣著）。
What scientists have found is that teenagers experience a wealth of growth in synapses during adolescence. But if you've ever hooked up an entertainment center, you know that more wires means more problems. You tend to keep the components you use the most, while getting rid of something superfluous, like an out-of-date laserdisc player. The brain works the same way, because it starts pruning away the synapses that it doesn't need in order to make the remaining ones much more efficient in communicating. In teenagers, it seems that this process starts in the back of the brain and moves forward, so that the prefrontal cortex, that vital center of control, is the last to be trimmed. As the connections are trimmed down, an insulating substance called myelin coats the synapses to protect them.
科學家發現，在青春期青少年的神經鍵會大量地增長，保留常用的部件以及捨棄多餘的東西。大腦修剪神經鍵，為的是讓其更有效率地進行聯絡。對青少年而言，這個過程似乎從大腦後部開始，再移向前端。因此，至關重要的控制中心——前額葉皮層——就成了最後才被涉及的區域。連結在被一步步裁剪的過程中，一種叫髓磷脂的絕緣物質覆蓋住神經鍵，起保護作用。
As such, the prefrontal cortex is a little immature in teenagers as compared to adults; it may not fully develop until your mid-20s [source: Kotulak]. And if you don't have a remote control to call the shots in the brain, using the other brain structures can become more difficult. Imaging studies have shown that most of the mental energy that teenagers use in making decisions is located in the back of the brain, whereas adults do most of their processing in the frontal lobe [source: Wallis]. When teenagers do use the frontal lobe, it seems they overdo it, calling upon much more of the brain to get the job done than adults would [source: Powell]. And because adults have already refined those communicating synapses, they can make decisions more quickly.
就此而言，相比成年人，青少年的前額葉皮層較為不成熟，它需要到25歲左右才能完全成熟。而且如果青少年不使用大腦“遙控器”發號施令，就只能費力地占用大腦其他結構。當青少年占用腦額葉時，他們要比成人利用更多的大腦部位來完成任務，實屬操之過當。
Adult brains are also better wired to notice errors in decision-making. While adults performed tasks that required the quick response of pushing buttons, their brains sent out a signal when a hasty mistake was made. Before 80 milliseconds had passed, adult brains had noticed the blunder, but teenage brains didn't notice any slip-up [source: Monastersky].
當成人在完成需要快速作出反應的任務時，大腦會在快速決策的同時發出一個信號，而青少年的大腦往往發現不了不妥之處。
An area of the teenager's brain that is fairly well-developed early on, though, is the nucleus accumbens, or the area of the brain that seeks pleasure and reward. In imaging studies that compared brain activity when the subject received a small, medium or large reward, teenagers exhibited exaggerated responses to medium and large rewards compared to children and adults. When presented with a small reward, the teenagers' brains hardly fired at all in comparison to adults and children.
然而，青少年大腦中倒是有一個區域在早期就發育得相當成熟，這個區域就是伏隔核，大腦中尋求快感和獎勵的區域。
So what does it mean to have an undeveloped prefrontal cortex in conjunction with a strong desire for reward? As it happens, this combination could explain a lot of stereotypical teenage behavior.
不完善的前額葉皮層連同對獎勵的強烈欲望，這又意味著什麼呢？很巧，這種結合能解釋很多典型的青少年行為。
原文出處 Originated from HowStuffWorks "Teenage Brain Development"
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