Adulthood Starts After 30 And The Three Other 'Brain Eras' We Get

New research released by Cambridge University has revealed that our brains develop at five pivotal ages in our lives and, it turns out, adulthood doesn’t really kick in until people are around 32. 

The study was based on the brain scans of almost 4,000 people aged under one to 90 and it mapped neural connections and how they evolve over our lifetimes. The research revealed five broad phases with pivotal ‘turning points’ around the ages of 9, 32, 66 and 83 years old. 

Professor Duncan Astle, a researcher in neuroinformatics at the university and senior author of the study said: “Looking back, many of us feel our lives have been characterised by different phases. It turns out that brains also go through these eras,

“Understanding that the brain’s structural journey is not a question of steady progression, but rather one of a few major turning points, will help us identify when and how its wiring is vulnerable to disruption.”

The four pivotal stages of brain development

Childhood

According to the study, childhood lasts from birth until around the age of nine years old, when children enter adolesence. 

Adolescence

In news that will help a lot of us excuse previous mistakes, according to the study, adolesence lasts until around the age of 32, which is when adulthood really starts to kick in.

According to the researchers, this is around the age that mental health disorders are likely to develop, too.

“This phase is the brain’s only period when its network of neurons gets more efficient”, the researchers said.

Adulthood

This is when the brain hits ‘stability’, according to the researchers and this lasts around three decades.

They say: “Change is slower during this time compared with the fireworks before, but here we see the improvements in brain efficiency flip into reverse.”

Lead author of the study, Dr Alexa Mousely says that this: “aligns with a plateau of intelligence and personality” that many of us will have witnessed or even experienced.

Early ageing

This kicks in around 66 but researchers urge that this is “not an abrupt and sudden decline” but instead a time when there are shifts in the patterns of connections in the brain.

They added: “Instead of coordinating as one whole brain, the organ becomes increasingly separated into regions that work tightly together – like band members starting their own solo projects.”

Although the study looked at healthy brains, this is also the age at which dementia and high blood pressure, which affects brain health, are starting to show.

Late ageing

This is the final stage, occuring around age 83. 

There is less data than for the other groups as finding healthy brains to scan was more challenging. The brain changes are similar to early ageing, but even more pronounced.

This could help with our understanding of ageing brains

Duncan Astle, professor of neuroinformatics at the University of Cambridge and part of the team responsible for the research, said: “Many neurodevelopmental, mental health and neurological conditions are linked to the way the brain is wired. Indeed, differences in brain wiring predict difficulties with attention, language, memory, and a whole host of different behaviours.

“Understanding that the brain’s structural journey is not a question of steady progression, but rather one of a few major turning points, will help us identify when and how its wiring is vulnerable to disruption.”

Here’s hoping.