The news many have been waiting for: the brain doesn’t reach adulthood until age 32, according to a recent study from the University of Cambridge. This news, by the way, has set social media abuzz. Brain scans performed on thousands of people reveal the changes the brain undergoes between birth and death. As far as we know, this research is the first to identify the main phases of brain connectivity throughout life and sheds new light on what our brains may be particularly vulnerable to at different stages.
“Looking back, many of us feel that our lives have been marked by distinct phases”
Scientists have identified distinct phases in which the brain changes over the years. According to the studies, learning difficulties are observed in childhood, along with age-related conditions such as dementia. The findings are part of a study involving approximately 4,000 people up to 90 years old, who underwent scans that revealed the connections between their neurons. “Looking back, many of us feel that our lives have been marked by distinct phases,” said Duncan Astle, lead author of the study and professor of neuroinformatics at the University of Cambridge.
The scientists say the findings could help us understand why the risk of developing mental health disorders
Specifically, the study reveals five phases of brain development. Researchers at the University of Cambridge in England demonstrated that the brain remains in the adolescent phase until the early 30s, when it reaches its peak potential. “It turns out that brains also go through these stages,” said Duncan Astle. The scientists say the findings could help us understand why the risk of developing mental health disorders and dementia varies throughout life.
The scans track the movement of water molecules through the brain, allowing researchers to map neural connections
Astle’s team compared brain scans of approximately 3,800 people, ranging in age from 0 to 90. The brain is constantly changing in response to new knowledge and experiences, but the research shows that this change is not uniform from birth to death. The scans track the movement of water molecules through the brain, allowing researchers to map neural connections and identify key developmental changes throughout life.
Adolescence, from age 9 to 32 and adulthood, from age 32 to 66
Therefore, the five phases the brain goes through are divided as follows: infancy, from birth to age 9; adolescence, from age 9 to 32; adulthood, from age 32 to 66; early aging, from age 66 to 83; and late aging, from age 83 onward. In the first stage, billions of new neural connections are formed and inactive ones are pruned, and both gray and white matter grow rapidly. This is a crucial stage.
The gray matter we’re referring to processes and interprets information, while the white matter transmits it to other parts of the nervous system
The fact is that these patterns we’ve described have only been revealed now thanks to the number of brain scans available in the study, published in the journal Nature Communications. The gray matter we’re referring to processes and interprets information, while the white matter transmits it to other parts of the nervous system, acting as the brain’s communication network.
According to studies, brain structure stabilizes in the early thirties and then remains stable for 30 years before entering another stage. “This is an age when the risk of various health conditions that can affect the brain, such as hypertension, increases,” said Alexa Mousley, author of the study and researcher at the University of Cambridge. Around age 66, the brain transitions into a phase of early aging, with white matter degradation that reduces these connections. Finally, while the study did not analyze men and women separately, it will raise questions such as the impact of menopause, for example.