Growing Up: The Legend of Nezha

Nezha (pronounced nuh-jah) is a well-loved character in Chinese mythology, and the 2019 animated film Nezha: Birth of the Demon Child pushed him back into the spotlight as an international sensation. In this article, we will dive into the fascinating tale of Nezha’s coming-of-age journey. Born of divine origin, Nezha has immense strength and magic-like capabilities, but that did not prevent him from going through all the difficulties that come with growing up. As a young boy, Nezha constantly got into trouble and caused disturbances throughout the kingdom. As he got older, he became increasingly restless, seeking independence and longing to escape the control of his parents. After going out on his own, Nezha faced many challenges, which eventually led to the accidental betrayal of his only friend. Due to his mistake, he decided to make the ultimate sacrifice, giving up his old body and old ways to become a spiritual warrior dedicated to a righteous path. This legendary transformation is a lot like the growing pains we all experience during adolescence. We make mistakes, learn from them as we mature, and keep moving forward. Luckily for us humans, we do not do not need to make sacrifices like Nezha did as we go through those changes! Instead, our bodies and brains slowly develop and mature, allowing us to have more complex thoughts, emotions, relationships, and experiences. Keep Nezha’s story in mind as you explore how the brain matures.

Adolescence: A Window Into Brain Development

Adolescence usually begins when the body starts making more sex hormones, which cause big changes in your body, appearance, feelings, and thinking [1]. Your brain changes too! But something tricky is going on; the part of your brain that helps you make decisions and control your behavior (called the prefrontal cortex) is still growing, while the part that handles your feelings (the amygdala) has already been working overtime. You can think of the adolescent brain as a sports car: the “emotional engine” (the amygdala) is running at full speed, while the “brakes” (the prefrontal cortex) are still quite weak. This is one reason why teenagers love to play, take risks, and sometimes break rules [2]. On the other hand, adolescence is also an exciting period of life, when kids are brimming with curiosity, passion, and creative ideas.

To fully understand the changes that happen during adolescence, scientists have started some huge projects to map out the processes of brain development. In 2015, a group of U.S. scientists introduced the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD, https://abcdstudy.org) study which followed over 10,000 children starting from the age of 9 or 10. The study took pictures of the brain with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and found that exposure to addictive materials, such as drugs or too much digital media, before age 15 was related to significant changes in the prefrontal cortex and amygdala. As you can see from these results, your environment and behavior can shape your body and brain, particularly during adolescence!

Our research team in China started a similar study back in 2013, called the Chinese Color Nest Project (CCNP) [3]. Over the past decade, we have tracked 190 children and teenagers from ages 6 to 18. We took MRI pictures of their brains to see how they changed as they grew up, to help us create a growth chart representing the full picture of healthy Chinese developing brains.

Following the success of CCNP as a pilot cohort, a nationwide Chinese Children Brain Development (CCBD, https://www.ccbd.tech) study was launched in 2021. CCBD is designed to follow over 45,000 children all over the country starting from the age of 6 or 7. By collecting information on both their behavior and their brains, the project’s goal is to create a more comprehensive map of how brain structure and activity develop. In the end, we want to use this knowledge to help kids who are struggling and help schools create scientific ways of teaching based on how the brain works.

A Picture of Your Brain’s Entire Life

Your brain grows and changes throughout your entire life, helping you learn new things and face new challenges. But what does that growth look like?

With over 120,000 brain scans collected from people of all ages, from infants to 100 years old, scientists from around the world, including our CCNP team, created the first-ever “growth chart” for the human brain, just like the charts doctors use to measure your height and weight [4].

Here are some of the coolest findings (see Figure 1).

• The brain does not grow all at once. Different parts mature at different times, and some keep changing well into adulthood.

• The outer layer of the brain, called the cortex, is where thinking, feeling, and processing information happen. Its thickness peaks at only about 2 years old.

• The total amount of gray matter, which is also mainly on the outer layer of the brain, reaches its highest volume around age 6. That is why it is so important to start learning after this age.

• The brain’s overall size and surface area peak around age 12. However, structures below the cortex, such as the amygdala finish developing later around the age of 14. This helps explain why teenagers can feel emotions so intensely. Interestingly, the brain changes that happen during adolescence might actually last until almost age 30! So, if you feel like you are still figuring things out, do not worry, your brain is still a work in progress.

• The brain’s white matter is like a superhighway of connections that different brain areas use to talk to each other. Surprisingly, this network keeps growing and does not mature until about 28 or 29 years of age, leaving much of plasticity window for neurodevelopment.

Cracking the Code of “Rainbow Brain”

To find out the secrets going on behind these charts of developing brain from childhood to adolescence, scientists in the CCNP analyzed brain MRI images and conceptually organized the cortex into seven major functional networks [5], where certain groups of brain regions work together to accomplish a task. These rainbow colors are organized into a concentric circle from basic functions to complex thinking skills as an individual grows up and enters adolescence (Figure 2).

The outermost ring contains three colors. These include the visual cortex (purple), which is located at the back of your brain and helps process what you see, like shapes, colors, movement, and much more. The blue area (the somatomotor network) controls your movements and combines all of your senses into one complete experience. The cream-colored area is the auditory network, located in the temporal lobe near your ears, which helps you hear, understand language, and recognize sounds like your alarm clock or the honk of a horn.

The second ring focuses on attention for goal-directed tasks. Green represents the dorsal attention network, which guides your focus when you are looking for something specific, like searching through a crowd for a friend in a red t-shirt. Pink represents the ventral attention network, which brings your attention to sudden, unexpected events, a car racing by or someone suddenly appearing at your side.

The control network, shown in orange, deals with working memory, decision-making, and complex thinking. The default network, at the center in red, becomes active when you are reflecting, daydreaming, resting, or simply letting your mind wander.

But how do these networks change as kids grow up? The CCNP team has discovered that these seven major networks develop and mature from the outside in. During childhood, the brain is driven by the primary networks (i.e., the somatomotor and visual networks) located on the outermost portion of the circle, which also develop at a rapid rate during childhood. As kids (both Chinese and American) enter adolescence triggered by the puberty, the pink ventral attention, networks drives to reorganize their cortex for high-level goal-directed behaviors involving attention, self-control, and self-awareness (e.g., social interactions) with control and default networks [6–8].

Using the Brain Chart to Empower Adolescent Brain Development

Just as doctors use growth charts to monitor a child’s height and weight year by year, brain scientists have mapped out brain charts for populations [4, 9], a developmental scientist-approved tool that equips an individual to make a meaningful impact during this critical window of adolescent brain development. Also, this developing transition of brain functional networks occurring during adolescence is well reflected in Nezha’s legendary odyssey, where he transformed from a rebellious boy to an upright and honorable man, driven by the “upgraded” processes taking place in the brain. So, more than just a phase - adolescence is a window into how the brain generates behavior [10]. Nurture your nature for a better future, and enjoy the journey of life, because at the end of the day, you are the master of your own mind!

Glossary

Adolescence: ↑ The period between childhood and adulthood when the body and brain go through major changes, including growth, new emotions, and more complex thinking.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): ↑ Like using a mirror to see yourself, neuroimaging is like taking a “photograph” of the brain.

Functional Networks: ↑ Groups of brain regions that communicate and work together at the same time to carry out a task, such as paying attention, naming an object, or solving a problem.

Attention: ↑ Attention refers to the ability to focus on one thing while ignoring other things.

Working Memory: ↑ The brain’s ability to hold information for a short time and use it to do something, like solving a math problem or remembering directions long enough to follow them.

Self-awareness: ↑ Self-awareness is knowing who you are, how you feel, and why you act the way you do.

Conflict of Interest

The author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Brain Science and Brain-like Intelligence Technology-National Science and Technology Major Project (2021ZD0200500): The Chinese Child Brain Development (CCBD) study.

AI Tool Statement

The author(s) declared that generative AI was used in the creation of this manuscript. DeepSeek-V3.1-Terminus, 2025.8, DeepSeek-AI, 685B was used for the initial Chinese to English translation.

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