Melinda Beck writes in the Wall Street Journal’s online Health Journal that the brain is not fully developed until well after puberty:
Many parents of 20-somethings worry that their offspring haven’t yet found a career path, gotten married or become financially independent.
These parents should chill out, experts say.
In fact, studies are finding that brain growth and development continues well into a person’s twenties:
Such findings are part of a new wave of research into “emerging adulthood,” the years roughly from 18 to 29, which psychologists, sociologists and neuroscientists increasingly see as a distinct life stage.
Beck makes this important point:
For young adults, it can be a stressful time. High rates of anxiety, depression, motor-vehicle accidents and alcohol use are at their peak from 18 to 25, trends that tend to level out by age 28, studies show.
And the reason:
The front part of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex, is one of the last brain regions to mature. It is the area responsible for planning, prioritizing and controlling impulses.
Read this very interesting article (or view the attached video with the author) here–>