“I’m still a child”: New study says the brain’s most stable period doesn’t arrive until age 32

A study suggesting that the human brain enters a stable phase around age 32 has people in their 20s feeling validated. University of Cambridge neuroscientists released their research results on Tuesday and suggested that life-long brain development can be viewed as having five distinct phases.

Turning points in this development happen "around nine, 32, 66, and 83 years old."

What the Cambridge University brain stage study says

Over the course of their research, Cambridge’s MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit used MRI diffusion scans to map the brains of 3,802 subjects between zero and 90 years old. What they found led them to declare their five-stage development theory.

The first stage, from birth to nine, sees rapid growth in gray and white matter. Around age nine, the "adolescent" phase starts as the brain works on increasing its efficiency.

Around age 32, people tend to enter the most stable phase of brain development and a "plateau in intelligence and personality" that lasts for over 30 years.

At about 66, the pace of neural network changes in the brain starts to slow while white matter begins to decline.

The final stage, entered around age 83, sees neural connections degrade to the point that the brain relies more on "local" rather than "global" networks. However, their data set for this stage was fairly small.

Not an adult until age 32?

None of this means that, as Pop Crave reported, adolescence "lasts until our early thirties," that the brain "peaks" at 32, or that adulthood starts at that age. These researchers specifically stressed that brain development is non-linear.

"This study underscores the complex, non-linear nature of human development, with unique phases of topological maturation, which can only be illuminated with a multivariate, lifespan, population-level perspective," the abstract concludes.

While Cambridge's summary of the study results says the brain "transitions to the adolescent phase" at age nine and that this stage "lasts right up to the age of 32, on average," this doesn't mean that a 31-year-old could be reasonably called an adolescent.

The researchers also used the word "peaks" to describe high points of certain types of brain development during multiple stages. In fact, they characterize the so-called "adult brain" as a period of stability rather than peaks. Each phase has its strengths and weaknesses.

"These eras provide important context for what our brains might be best at, or more vulnerable to, at different stages of our lives," explained study leader Dr. Alexa Mousley.

Always remember when reading news reports on studies like this that journalists are not scientists.

"If you're 25 and feel like a mess, relax"

It's also true that, especially in the modern era, people in their 20s often express that they don't feel like real adults. Properly summarized or not, a lot of these folks are projecting feelings of validation on X.

"I was really wondering why my life isn’t together yet, it’s because I’m still a child," wrote @onbrandviews.

"If you're 25 and feel like a mess, relax," said @ndaren41. "You ain't failing. You're just compiling. The stability patch doesn't download until 32."

Others speculated on how this would impact the online discourse around age.

"Now people are gonna start using this as an excuse instead of 'your brain isn't developed until 25' now its gonna be 'they are not an adult yet they are 32' I can see it already making excuses for people's ridiculous choices," wrote @artisev3rywhere.

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