Brain has five eras', scientists say with adult mode not starting until early 30s

"The study, based on the brain scans of nearly 4,000 people aged under one to 90, mapped neural connections and how they evolve during our lives. This revealed five broad phases, split up by four pivotal turning points in which brain organisation moves on to a different trajectory, at around the ages of nine, 32, 66 and 83 years. Looking back, many of us feel our lives have been characterised by different phases."

"It turns out that brains also go through these eras, said Prof Duncan Astle, a researcher in neuroinformatics at Cambridge University and senior author of the study. Understanding that the brain's structural journey is not a question of steady progression, but rather one of a few major turning points, will help us identify when and how its wiring is vulnerable to disruption."

"The childhood period of development was found to occur between birth until the age of nine, when it transitions to the adolescent phase an era that lasts up to the age of 32, on average. In a person's early 30s the brain's neural wiring shifts into adult mode the longest era, lasting more than three decades. A third turning point around the age of 66 marks the start of an early ageing phase of brain architecture."

Human brain development follows five major epochs with key turning points at roughly ages nine, 32, 66, and 83. Brain organization shifts trajectories at each turning point, producing childhood, adolescent, adult, early ageing, and late ageing eras. Neural connections were mapped across nearly 4,000 people aged under one to 90 using twelve measures of network organization, including wiring efficiency, compartmentalization, and hub reliance. Infancy and childhood show network consolidation through synapse pruning, during which wiring efficiency decreases. The adult phase lasts over three decades before gradual architectural changes mark ageing phases.

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