Scientists reveal the shocking truth of when adolescence ends in the brain and its a lot older than you think

There’s truth to the “manchild” trope.UK researchers have discovered that adulthood starts much later than we thought, per an eye-opening study published in the journal Nature.“Based purely on neural architecture, we found that adolescent-like changes in brain structure end around the early thirties,” wrote the researchers, who hailed from the University of Cambridge.These extended wonder years are just one of five major epochs in brain structure during an average human life, divided into four pivotal “turning points” between birth and death.Lead author Dr.Alexa Mousley told the BBC that the brain constantly changes across one’s lifespan, “strengthening and weakening connections” as the mind reconfigures.

She pointed out that this was the first “first to identify major phases of brain wiring across a human lifespan,” per a release by the university.To shed light on the phases of the brain, the researchers compared the neurological activity of 3,802 people between zero and ninety years old.They specifically looked at the data from MRI scans, which “map neural connections by tracking how water molecules move through brain tissue,” per a release by the university.Phase one –the “childhood phase” — lasts until age nine, per the study.During this window, the brain’s wealth of synapses – the connectors between neurons – “are whittled down, with the more active ones surviving.”By the first pivotal point at nine years old, the brain is undergoing a major boost in cognitive capacity, but also a heightened risk of mental health disorders.This is when it enters stage two, the adolescent phase, which lasts from 9 until the late 30s, like a neurological fountain of youth.But this is not a sign of arrested development.

This era is marked by an increase in white matter — the high-speed wiring that connects different regions so they can communicate.As a result, the structure of the brain’s communication networks becomes increasing...