2024-03-02 18:10:00
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Are you really an adult at 18? Neuropsychology provides information about the age at which certain areas of the brain are fully developed.
Frankfurt – The 18th birthday is often celebrated as the start of adult life. From this date you are considered of age and have gained many freedoms – be it the legal consumption of hard alcohol or gambling. But are you really an adult at this age? Neuropsychology tries to find the answer to this question through the brain.
Gray and white matter: The brain continues to grow after adulthood
Not only the body, but also the brain grows during adolescence, i.e. the transition to adulthood. The brain contains white and gray matter, which contains over 3,000 types of brain cells. Magnetic resonance imaging shows that gray matter increases until about age 25 and white matter increases until age 30 spektrum.de describes. By the age of six, the gray matter increases significantly in volume. After that, this growth stagnates. During puberty, the gray matter actually shrinks slightly.
The human brain grows as it grows up. © begsteiger/Imago
Signs of adulthood? Prefrontal cortex fully developed at 25 years old
The prefrontal cortex is particularly interesting when it comes to the question of when the brain becomes an adult. This continues to develop during puberty until the age of around 25 and has, among other things, effects on planning, thinking and processing complex information as well as expecting consequences.
A study by the National Institutes of Health in the USA looked at the development of the area in 2005. “When we started, we thought we would follow kids until they were 18 or 20. If we had to give a number now, we would probably say the age is 25,” says Dr. Jay Giedd, lead author. But here too there are large fluctuations between individuals. It is also important to note that the growth or development of certain areas of the brain is not automatically associated with changed behavior, the researchers make clear.
Clear age is difficult to determine – the brain goes through individual development
Neuroscientist Dr. Richard Bethlehem and Dr. Jakob Seidlitz, who evaluated brain scans across people’s entire lifespans for a paper, cannot give a specific age. “It depends on how you define adulthood.” Different characteristics and associated areas are most developed at different times in life. But even after its peak, changes continue to take place in the brain.
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The age of mid-25 repeatedly appears in research as a point in time at which many developmental processes in the brain are completed. From the age of 30, the brain begins to shrink slightly, describes spektrum.de. But here too it remains plastic and capable of learning. Habits like smoking also have a negative impact on the brain. Only after the age of 70 does the decline accelerate and connections are lost. With a few tips, the brain can be kept fit for a long time. (nr)
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