The Ages Your Brain Peaks At Everything

Do you think that you’ve already witnessed the rise and fall of your peak self? When it comes to your intelligence, you still have some highs to look forward to.

Joshua Hartshorne who’s a MIT cognitive science researcher and the lead author of a study looking at how intelligence changes as we age, explains that most people are getting better at some things at almost any given age.

Joshua’s team questioned more than 1000 people, aged 10-90, on their ability to do some things such as recognizing faces, remember a list of words, do math etc. The results were incredible and they showed that no matter your age, there’s always a new peak coming up.

Brain processing power and detail memory peaks by the age of 18

Digit Symbol Substitution is a test used by scientists in order to assess many things from brain damage to dementia. The test requires people to use many cognitive skills at once and pair numbers with symbols.
Hartshorne used this test during his study and the results showed that people’s performance peaks by the age of 18 or late teens.

The ability to learn unfamiliar names, peaks at the age of 22

Have you noticed that most adults are bad at memorizing unfamiliar names? They can’t memorize an information when it’s without contexts and this phenomenon also has a name- Baker/Baker paradox.
For example, a person will easily remember a story about someone who’s a baker rather than a person with a last name Baker.
A study published in 2011, shows that it’s easier to learn new names in our early 20s.

Facial Recognition Peak at the age of 32

Scientists explain that the ability to remember and learn new faces peaks right after we turn 30. Our brain truly has a remarkable capacity to identify and recognize faces.

Ability to concentrate peaks at the age of 43

Do you have problems focusing? Don’t worry because a Harvard University study shows that our concentration and ability to learn improves with age and it reaches its peak at the age of 43.

“While younger adults may excel in the speed and flexibility of information processing, adults approaching their mid-years may have the greatest capacity to remain focused,” explains Joe DeGutis, one of the authors of the study.

Identifying other people’s emotions peaks at the age of 48

Dating can be tough since we’re best at identifying other people’s emotions when we reach our late 40s.
Hartshorne’s study has proven that people notice more emotions around the age of 48.

The ability to do basic arithmetics peaks at the age of 50

Don’t feel bad about yourself if you sucked at maths in high school. Scientists show that people are best at arithmetics when they reach their 50s.

Ability to understand and learn new information peaks at the age of 50

So when you reach your 50s, you’ll not only be better at maths, but will also be more capable of understanding and learning general information.

Vocabulary skills peaks at the age of 67

Don’t worry if you’re losing at Scrabble because your best days are ahead. The study shows that we reach our vocabulary skills peak in our late 60s.

Source: Business Insider