Judgement making, mental illness, etc.?
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I turned 21 recently and it’s had me wondering this. I’ve drank in the last couple of years before turning 21 (I’ve ironically drank less since my birthday) but I still felt different. This has me wondering this question as well as the fact that I’ve heard the closer you get to 25 the more any mental illnesses you have will show signs (unsure if this is really true). What is happening to the brain as we reach this age?
[https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/the-neuroscience-of-twenty-somethings/](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/the-neuroscience-of-twenty-somethings/)
tl;dr – this is when your brain will start the “adulting” process. The brain starts to mature at many levels and you can now do things on an “adult” level. That means you have the executive function to live on your own and make decisions.
In theory – in practice, the article points out that society has changed and that maturity’s happening has been later and later. Our ancestors 200 years ago didn’t have to “find themselves” or “figure things out” – they had kids and were working to put food on the table. Our distant ancestors (100,000 years ago) were lucky to make it to 15, let alone 19-25.
So your 20’s are the time that the adult you begins to form – but if that takes longer than your parents/grandparents/great-grandparents – that’s okay.
As you get older and grow your body gets bigger and more developed. Your brain does the same thing. As a baby you develop the muscles you need to crawl, then walk, then run. If you think about the human brain the same way, it needs to crawl before it can walk. The crawling to walking part happens pretty quickly, but the running happens a lot later. In your twenties your prefrontal cortex develops. Thats part of your brain helps you apply past events to your future and makes planning for things more that a month out a lot easier.
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