Chinese influencer Yang Yukun has helped turn the prefrontal cortex into a viral buzzword on Chinese social media, where users now invoke it to talk about planning, impulse control and emotional regulation. [1]
The trend began last October when Yang, a Chinese neuroscience Ph.D. student at Graz University of Technology in Austria, posted a video about the prefrontal cortex on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. His first post drew more than 500,000 likes in total, and he later said, "The prefrontal cortex doesn’t fully mature until around age 25, so biologically speaking, people under 25 are ‘brain-disabled,’". [1]
The post took off with young users who began joking about having "prefrontal cortex damage" to explain lapses in judgment, emotional swings and other cognitive struggles. The phrase "prefrontal cortex-friendly partner" also spread after Yang said one’s prefrontal cortex development should count as a dating criterion. [1]
Yang has followed up with more than 30 posts on the topic over the following months, keeping the discussion alive across platforms. The conversation has also broadened to parenting and romantic relationships, while at least 10 related topics have appeared on Weibo trending lists. [1]
The latest reporting shows the social-media fascination is still active, with Yang continuing to publish on the subject and users continuing to apply the phrase to daily life. [1]