After 18 your brain is significantly different
8 February 2006
by Carina
Lee
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After 18 years of age a person's brain is considerably different, concluded two researchers from Dartmouth, who studied the significant progression from adolescence to adulthood by observing how the brain matures and the way certain brain structures continue to develop. Abigail Baird is an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences and the co-author of this study. She explains "During the first year of college, especially at a residential college, students have many new experiences. They are faced with new cognitive, social, and emotional challenges. We thought it was important to document and learn from the changes taking place in their brains." For the purpose of this study, Baird and research partner Craig Bennett, examined the brains of nineteen people who were 18 years of age. A group of older students in their 20s and 30s were also examined. Results from the experiments indicated that localised parts of the brain controlling emotion and cognition had undergone significant developmental change. Bennett explains "The brain of an 18-year-old college freshman is still far from resembling the brain of someone in their mid-twenties. When do we reach adulthood? It might be much later than we traditionally think." |
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Related Links
Original press release from Dartmouth College
Nature
& Science News
ClearlyExplained.com