8/3/2026
Recently I came across a buzzphrase on the Chinese internet:
“与前额叶健康的人做朋友”
Yǔ qián é yè jiànkāng de rén zuò péngyou
— “Make friends with people who have healthy prefrontal cortices.”
The phrase has spawned all kinds of humorous variations, such as “stay away from people with underdeveloped prefrontal cortices” and “check someone's prefrontal cortex before starting a relationship.”
Behind the joke is a fascinating piece of neuroscience.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is one of the most advanced regions of the human brain and one of the last to mature. It is heavily involved in what neuroscientists call executive functions: planning, decision-making, working toward long-term goals, inhibiting inappropriate impulses, and regulating behavior.
The PFC is also unusually large in humans. Depending on how it is defined, it has been estimated to account for up to about 29% of the human cerebral cortex, compared with about 17% in chimpanzees. The exact numbers vary according to the anatomical definition being used, but the broader point is clear: the human PFC is exceptionally expanded relative to that of other primates.
In everyday life, we might think of the PFC as the brain's management center.
It helps us pause before reacting in anger.
It helps us weigh costs and benefits before making a decision.
It helps us work backward from a goal and formulate a plan.
It helps us consider another person's perspective rather than seeing everything only from our own point of view.
It also helps us regulate our emotional responses.
This is where the PFC's relationship with the amygdala becomes interesting. The amygdala is involved in detecting emotionally significant or threatening stimuli and can contribute to rapid emotional responses such as fear. The PFC and other brain regions interact with the amygdala in regulating these responses.
In simple terms, however, the metaphor of the brake is useful.
When someone insults us, our first impulse may be to strike back.
When we are angry, we may want to say something hurtful immediately.
When we see something we want, we may want it that moment.
A well-functioning regulatory system gives us the ability to pause, think of consequences and ask: “What happens if I act on this impulse?”
That may be what the Chinese internet saying is really getting at when it says, “Make friends with people who have healthy prefrontal cortices.”
It means we might want to spend time with people who can remain calm when emotions run high, think before they speak, consider consequences, listen to other perspectives, and resist every passing impulse.
We should choose friends not only for how much fun we have with them, but also for how they influence the way we think and behave.
And if the PFC is so important, an interesting question naturally follows:
What can we do to keep our own prefrontal cortex healthy and strengthen our ability to think before we act?
That's what I'll explore tomorrow.
