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Still growing up at 40: Throwing tantrums in middle age? That's because your brain is learning to be adult By Fiona Macrae Last updated at 7:56 AM on 16th December 2010
You’ve left home, taken out a mortgage and perhaps even started a family of your own, so you quite rightly think you have grown up.
In fact, you may not be as much of an adult as you think.
The brain does not stop developing until we are in our 30s or 40s – meaning that many people will still have something of the teenager about them long after they have taken on the responsibilities of adulthood.
The finding, from University College London, could perhaps help explain why seemingly respectable adults sometimes just can’t resist throwing a tantrum or sulking until they get their own way.
The discovery that the part of the brain key to getting on with others takes decades to fully form could perhaps also explain why some people are socially awkward well past their teenage years.
Neuroscientist Professor Sarah-Jayne Blakemore said: ‘Until about 10 years ago, it was pretty much assumed that the human brain stops developing in early childhood.
‘But we now know that is far from the truth, in fact most regions of the human brain continue to develop for many decades.
'The region that goes through the most protracted development is the pre-frontal cortex at the front of the brain.
‘It is involved in decision-making, planning and inhibiting inappropriate social behaviour and also things like social awareness and understanding other people and empathy.
‘This region starts to develop very early on after conception and continues to develop right through childhood and undergoes a reorganisation at the onset of puberty.
‘It continues to develop well into a person’s 30s and even 40s.
‘It is involved in all sorts of cognitive functions that in a way make us human.’
Inappropriate social behaviour? Tom Cruise could perhaps blame this outburst, where he told Oprah Winfrey how he felt about his then new girlfriend Katie Holmes, on the continuing growth of part of his brain
Although a person can continue to learn new skills after this, the basic structural changes driven by genes and biology rather than by what they are seeing or doing will tend to have been completed.
And, eventually, the deterioration associated with old age will set in.
Professor Blakemore has previously shown that the prefrontal cortex, the brain’ s emotional hub, undergoes a rapid period of growth and reorganisation in puberty.
These changes help equip its owner for life in the adult world.
Why the development continues for another decade or two is unclear. It is also possible that the cut-off point is different in cultures with very different lifestyles.
Professor Blakemore, who presented her work at a conference held by British Neuroscience Association yesterday, believes that neuroscience could also help explain why youngsters’ grades often dip between the ages of 12 and 14.
The phenomenon is usually attributed to the stress of starting secondary school. But she believes that a temporary rise in the amount of grey matter around puberty can make it harder for teenagers to concentrate.
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