青少年的大脑
The teenage brain
Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Neil.
大家好。这是六分钟英语,我是尼尔。
And I'm Rob.
我是罗伯。
What do you remember of your teenage years?
你还记得你青少年时候的什么事情?
Oh, I was a nightmare.
噢,我就是个噩梦。
I was rude to my parents, always stayed out late, never did my homework, hung out with the wrong people and made lots of bad decisions.
我对我的父母无礼,总是在外面待到很晚,从不做作业,和乱七八糟的人在外面闲逛,而且做了很多糟糕的决定。
How about you, Neil?
你呢,尼尔?
Well, much the same really.
好吧,真的几乎一样。
People always say that about teenagers, don’t they?
人们总是说那是关于青少年的,不是吗?
That they go through a period where they are out of control and behave badly.
他们经历一段不受管控,表现不好的时期。
But apparently, it’s not their fault.
但是显然,那不是他们的错。
At least not directly.
至少不直接是他们的错。
So whose fault is it?
所以是谁的错呢?
Our brains’, apparently.
显然是我们的大脑。
Teenagers’ brains are still developing in areas that control behaviour, which could mean that you can’t blame them for acting the way they do.
青少年大脑中控制我们行为的区域仍在发育,那意味着你不能因为青少年的做事方式而责备他们。
Before we find out more, let’s have our question.
在我们找到更多内容之前,让我们看一下我们的问题。
There have always been teenagers, but when was the word ‘teenager’ first used to refer to the 13 – 19 age group?
总是谈到青少年,但是“青少年”这个词是什么时候被用于指代13岁到19岁的年龄群?
Was it: a) the 1920s b) the 1930s or c) the 1950s?
是a) 20世纪20年代 b) 20世纪30年代 还是c) 20世纪50年代?
Any ideas, Rob?
有什么想法吗,罗伯?
Well, I think it came along around the time of rock and roll, so that would have made it the 1950s.
好吧,我觉得它是和摇滚乐时代一起出现的,所以那会是20世纪50年代。
That’s my guess.
那只是我的猜测。
I'll have the answer later in the programme.
稍后在节目中我将揭晓答案。
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore from University College London, specialises in the workings of the brain, particularly the teenage brain.
来自伦敦大学学院的莎拉•杰恩•布莱克默专门研究大脑方面的内容,特别是青少年的大脑。
Recently she was a guest on the BBC Radio programme, The Life Scientific.
最近她做客BBC广播节目《科学生活》。
She explained that the understanding that the brain is still developing during the teenage years is quite new.
她解释称了解大脑在青少年时期仍在发育是相当新的。
When does she say the first research came out?
她说第一次研究调查是什么时候出现的?
The first study showing that the human brain undergoes this very substantial and significant development throughout adolescence and into the twenties;
第一次研究调查表明人类大脑在青春期到二十几岁的时间里会有显著发育。
the first papers were published in the late 90s.
第一篇论文发表于20世纪90年末期。
Before that, and for example when I was at university, the dogma in the text books was that the vast majority of brain development goes on in the first few years of life and nothing much changes after mid-childhood.
在那之前,举例来说,我上大学的时候,课本里的教义是绝大多数大脑发育是在生命最初几年,而且在幼年中期没什么变化。
That dogma is completely false.
那种教义是错误的。
So when did the research into the teenage brain come out?
所以对青少年大脑的研究是什么时候出现的?
Surprisingly, it wasn’t until the late 1990s.
令人吃惊的是直到20世纪90年代末期它才出现。
This was when she said that the first papers on this subject were published.
这是她所说的关于这个研究的第一篇论文发表的时间。
Papers in this context means the results of scientific research which are published.
论文在这个背景下指的是发表的科研成果。
And she didn’t actually talk about teenagers, did she?
而且她事实上没有谈到青少年,不是吗?
No, that’s right.
没提到,是的。
She talked about the period of adolescence.
她谈到了青春期。
This noun, adolescence, is the period when someone is developing from a child into an adult and it more or less is the same as the teenage years.
“青春期”这个名词是某人从孩子发育到成年人的时期,而且或多或少那就和青少年时期一样。
What I found interesting was that before the 1990s people believed something different about the way our brains develop.
我发现有趣的是在20世纪90年代以前人们认为我们大脑发育方式是不一样的。
Yes, Professor Blakemore said that the dogma had been that our brains are mostly fully developed in early childhood, long before adolescence.
是的,布莱克默教授说那时候的教义是我们的大脑在孩童早期,在青春期之前很长时间就差不多发育完全了。
Dogma' is a word used to describe a strong belief that people are expected to accept as true.
“教义”这个单词被用来形容人们会认为是真理的一种强烈信条。
So our brains are still developing much later than was originally thought.
所以我们的大脑在比最初认为晚的多的时间里仍在发育。
What does this tell us about teenage behaviour?
这告诉我们关于青少年行为什么东西?
Of particular interest is an important part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex.
特别让人感兴趣的是大脑中被叫做“前额叶”的这一重要区域。
Here is Professor Blakemore again.
这里是布莱克默教授再次谈到的。
What excuse can she give for teenagers who don’t get their homework done in time?
对于青少年不及时完成作业,她给出了什么理由呢?
The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain right at the front, just behind the forehead,
前额叶是大脑右前方的一个区域,就在额头后面,
and it’s involved in a whole range of very high-level cognitive tasks such as decision making and planning.
而且它涉及大量非常高等级的认知任务,像是做决定和制定计划。
We know that this region is undergoing very very large amounts of development during the adolescent years.
我们知道这个区域在青春期会经历非常非常大量的发育过程。
And so in terms of the expectations that we place on teenagers to, for example, plan their homework,
所以根据我们对青少年的期待,例如他们的作业计划,
it might be too much given that we know that the region of the brain that critically involved in planning is not developed yet.
我们或许会了解到大脑中很大程度上涉及计划内容的区域还没有发育完。
So the prefrontal cortex is important in cognitive tasks.
所有前额叶在认知任务里非常重要。
What are those, Rob?
那些是什么呢,罗伯?
A cognitive task is one that requires conscious thinking and processing, such as making decisions and planning.
认知任务要求有意识的思考和处理,像是做决定和制定计划。
It doesn’t happen automatically, you have to think about it.
它并不是无意识发生的,你必须思考。
So in the adolescent years this part of the brain is not fully developed.
所以在青春期,大脑这部分并没有发育完全。
Note the adjective form here of the noun we had earlier 'adolescence'.
注意这里我们早些提到的“青春期”的形容词形式。
So this gives a good excuse for not doing your homework!
所以这为不做家庭作业提供了一个好借口!
Ha, ha, I wish I’d known that.
哈哈,我真希望之前自己能知道那个借口。
I used to say that I’d left my homework on the bus or that the dog had eaten it.
我过去经常说把作业落在公交车上了,或者是狗把我的作业吃了。
Now I could say, "Sorry sir, my brain isn’t developed enough for the cognitive task of planning my homework".
现在我可以说:“抱歉,先生,我的大脑没有发育足够完全到完成我的家庭作业这个认知任务”。
Yes, I’m sure that would work!
是的,我确信那会有用。
Before we wrap up, time to get the answer to this week’s question.
但是在我们完成节目之前,是时候揭晓问题的答案了。
I asked when was the word ‘teenager’ first used to refer to the 13 – 19 age group?
我问什么时候“青少年”这个词被用来指代13岁到19岁的年龄群?
Was it: a) the 1920s b) the 1930s or c) the 1950s?
是a) 20世纪20年代 b) 20世纪30年代 还是c) 20世纪50年代?
Rob, you said?
罗伯,你说是?
I guessed c) 1950s.
我猜的是c) 20世纪50年代。
And the answer is actually b) the 1930s.
答案实际上是b) 20世纪30年代。
Very well done if you knew that.
如果你知道的话,那你很棒啊。
Now a quick review of today’s vocabulary.
现在快速回顾一下今天的词汇。
Adolescence' is the noun for the period of change from child to adult.
“青春期”是从孩童到成年人时期的名词。
And the adjective is 'adolescent'.
而且形容词形式是“adolescent”。
This same word is also the noun for someone who is in that teenage period.
同样的单词也是指处于青少年时期的人。
So an adolescent might be responsible for adolescent behaviour in his or her adolescence.
所以青少年或许要对他或者她在青春期的不成熟行为负责。
Exactly.
确实是。
Papers is the word for published scientific research.
“论文”这个单词是发表的科学研究。
Dogma is strongly held beliefs that are not challenged.
“教义”是强烈支持,不容被挑战的信条。
The prefrontal cortex is an important part of the brain which deals with cognitive tasks.
“前额叶”是大脑处理认知任务的一个重要部分。
And cognitive tasks are mental processes that require active thought and consideration, such as planning and making decisions.
而且“认知任务”是要求主动思考和考虑的心理过程,像是制定计划和做决定。
Well, my decision making skills tell me that it’s time to finish.
好的,我的决策技能告诉我是时候结束节目了。
Well, your skills are working well Neil.
好的,你的技能做得很好,尼尔。
We may be going now but you don't need to.
我们现在或许要离开了,但是你不需要。
You can listen or watch us again and find lots more learning English materials on our social media platforms.
你可以再次收听或者观看我们的内容,并在我们的社交媒体平台上找到许多英语学习材料。
You can also visit our website at bbclearningenglish.com.
你同样可以访问我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com。
See you soon, goodbye.
下次见,再见。
Goodbye!
再见!