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Adulting can officially start later in life.
Neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge found that the human brain experiences four pivotal turning points throughout someone’s lifetime, determining that adolescence begins around the age of 9 and lasts until age 32 on average, according to a study published in Nature Communications Nov. 25.
The study compared the brains of 3,802 people between ages 0 and 90 and found that there are five brain phases: childhood from birth to age 9, adolescence from 9 to 32, adulthood from 32 to 66, early aging from 66 to 83 and late aging from 83 onwards.
As the study notes, when a person is in their early 30s, their brain’s neural wiring shifts into adult mode, which then leads into the longest era, as adulthood can last up to three decades.
“Around the age of 32, we see the most directional changes in wiring and the largest overall shift in trajectory, compared to all the other turning points,” lead researcher Dr. Alexa Mousley said in a Nov. 25 press release. “While puberty offers a clear start, the end of adolescence is much harder to pin down scientifically. Based purely on neural architecture, we found that adolescent-like changes in brain structure end around the early thirties.”
And while some people may reach certain landmarks earlier or later in their lifetimes, the researchers were surprised to see how clearly the ages of 9, 32, 66 and 83 stood out among their sampling.
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“These eras provide important context for what our brains might be best at, or more vulnerable to, at different stages of our lives,” she added. “It could help us understand why some brains develop differently at key points in life, whether it be learning difficulties in childhood, or dementia in our later years.”
But when it comes to brain development, researchers said a person’s early 30s are typically the “strongest topological turning point” of their lifespan.
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Once a person finally reaches adulthood at the age of 32, the “architecture stabilises compared to previous phases” and has no major turning points for around 30 years, which also corresponds with a “plateau in intelligence and personality.”
Now that researchers are able to see the brain’s epochs laid out, it helps explain how a person might experience those changes in brain chemistry in their everyday lives.
“Looking back, many of us feel our lives have been characterised by different phases,” added senior author Duncan Astle, a professor of Neuroinformatics at Cambridge. “It turns out that brains also go through these eras.”
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