New Study
A new brain study suggests that adolescence lasts into your 30s.
Context
Scientists have long understood that the brain changes throughout life, but the specific patterns and timing of these changes remained unclear. Past research suggested brain development was a steady process, but new scanning technology allowed researchers to examine whether the brain follows distinct developmental phases rather than continuous progression. Previous scientific perspectives suggested adolescence ended around the age of 25.
Tracking Brains
Researchers at the University of Cambridge published a study in Nature Communications on Tuesday where they studied MRI scans from 3,802 people between the ages of 0 and 90.
The scans tracked how water molecules moved through brain tissue, revealing patterns in neural connections. The team found the brain undergoes five broad phases throughout life, separated by four major turning points, with each phase defined by distinct patterns in how the brain is wired.
Five Phases
In phase one, from birth until age nine, the brain grows rapidly while trimming down excess connections between brain cells. The second phase runs from age nine to 32, when the brain’s communication networks become more refined and efficient. Researchers said age 32 corresponds with a “plateau in intelligence and personality,” suggesting the end of adolescence.
The third phase begins at age 32 and lasts three decades with no major turning points as the brain’s structure stabilizes. Around age 66, the brain enters a fourth phase marked by gradual reorganization as connections decrease. The final phase begins around age 83, when connections across the whole brain decline further and the brain relies more on specific regions.
Implications
The researchers said their findings could help scientists understand why certain mental health conditions and neurological disorders emerge at specific points in life, with the results providing important context for what brains might be best at, or more vulnerable to, at different life stages.
The team said that the transition at age nine, when adolescence begins, coincides with the period when the risk of mental health disorders increases. One of the researchers said understanding that brain development occurs through major turning points, rather than a steady progression, could help identify when the brain’s wiring is most vulnerable.