Evidence for Youthful Brain Function in Older Adults: Challenging Traditional Views on Cognitive Decline

The brain continues to develop after the age of 25 and only begins to decline between the ages of 30 and 40, according to a new study. Brain

The brain stays young longer than previously thought. Indeed, thanks to recent studies on the brain’s processing speed and how it changes with age, researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) in the Netherlands have discovered that our brains begin to decline not at the age of 25, but around the age of 30-40.

Mental decline only occurs from the age of 30 onwards. According to their work, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, the brain’s neural connections only slow down from the age of 30-40.

They found that our brain’s connections get faster and faster as we age and that it is only after the age of 30-40 that the speed goes down.

“Our brains are still developing much more than we thought,” says scientist Dorien van Blooijs.

The researchers also discovered differences between brain regions. For example, the frontal lobe, the front part of the brain responsible for thinking and performing tasks, develops longer than an area responsible for movement.

These data were obtained by precise measurements with an electrode grid that some epileptic patients have placed in the brain (under the skull) in preparation for epilepsy surgery. The grid consisted of 60 to 100 electrodes measuring brain activity.

Seventy-four patients were included in this study covering the age ranges of childhood (6-13 years), adolescence (14-18 years), young adulthood (19-33 years), and middle age (49-64 years).

These results provide important information about our central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord. They also represent a step towards a better understanding of the brain and the disorders that interfere with its proper functioning, say the researchers: “We were able to create a map of the areas in the brain that should or should not be removed during, for example, epilepsy surgery. We hope that our work will advance not only epilepsy research but also research into other brain disorders.”