Wissenschaftler haben in einer der bislang umfassendsten Studien darüber, wie sich die neuronale Verkabelung vom Säuglingsalter bis ins hohe Alter verändert, fünf große „Epochen“ der menschlichen Gehirnentwicklung identifiziert. In den frühen 30ern eines Menschen wechselt die neuronale Verkabelung des Gehirns in den Erwachsenenmodus – die längste Ära, die mehr als drei Jahrzehnte dauert

Scientists have identified five major “epochs” of human brain development in one of the most comprehensive studies to date of how neural wiring changes from infancy to old age.

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. Finally, the “late ageing” brain takes shape at around 83 years old.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65974-8

That early 30s effect is interesting, because that’s also the age that a lot of people who have spent much of their life in and out of jail decide they want to do things differently. Very few of them reoffend afterwards.