Prefrontal Cortex Myth

[Anonymous]

Great article and hilariously proves the point.


"Development is one thing, but there’s also cognitive decline. Because age and entropy can’t be avoided. That’s why people from middle age and later show reduced mental abilities. However, some studies suggest our cognition truly starts to decline in our twenties. This would suggest there’s maybe a window of a few months when we can be ‘trusted’ to make decisions."

https://www.sciencefocus.com/comment/brain-myth-25-development

[Anonymous]

You can't decline when you start at the bottom like me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can't decline when you start at the bottom like me.

Don't underestimate yourself. Look at it this way, you've a higher chance to improve.

[Anonymous]

Cognition peaks in your mid 20s. That is the best cognitive function you will ever have! Age gives you more life experience and so you can use your cognitive function differently but it does decline.

People misunderstand the brain keeps developing until your mid 20s thing. The brain is very developed before that but the prefrontal cortex peaks in function and is at its best in your mid20s

[Anonymous]

The brain matures until the mid-20s, that is a physiological fact.

What you're missing is that human thought is not all cells and transmission. A large part of it is balanced decision-making gained from accumulated experience. Less impulsivity, more knowledge of how life works and what makes other humans tick.

So an older brain in very slow decline can make much better decisions than a younger brain at the peak of its cognitive function.

[Anonymous]

People use prefrontal cortex development selectively. Young people can get gender reassignment, donate organs, have relationships, have sex, get pregnant, have abortions, pick careers, buy guns, vote, run for office, be EMT, be cops, travel, immigrate, get STDs, pay tax, hunt, gamble, go to war, play CTE prone sports, get life sentence etc etc. but just don't get engaged or married. That's a big no no.

[Anonymous]

Should kids be allowed to wait and pick their religion (if they want one) after development of their prefrontal cortex or should they be conditioned to believe in ancestral religion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cognition peaks in your mid 20s. That is the best cognitive function you will ever have! Age gives you more life experience and so you can use your cognitive function differently but it does decline.

People misunderstand the brain keeps developing until your mid 20s thing. The brain is very developed before that but the prefrontal cortex peaks in function and is at its best in your mid20s

My HS/early college BF was a maths prodigy, including being selected for the US International Mathematical Olympiad team. He started college as a maths major, intending to get a PhD in order to teach and do research. He pivoted to pre-med half way through college as he believed mathematicians peak in their mid to late 20s and he didn’t think he had the chops for it. “I’m just not smart enough.” Now he is nearing retirement, spends his free time hiking, and dabbles in maths problems and occasionally Wordle.

[Anonymous]

The "developing brains" argument is increasingly used to avoid holding teenagers or even people in their early 20s responsible for any behavior, including criminal, violent, and highly anti-social behavior.

But don't worry, if you debunk the developing brains argument, they will just blame it on an ADHD diagnosis. The point is that young men should never be held responsible for their behavior. Only young women can be held responsible for things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cognition peaks in your mid 20s. That is the best cognitive function you will ever have! Age gives you more life experience and so you can use your cognitive function differently but it does decline.

People misunderstand the brain keeps developing until your mid 20s thing. The brain is very developed before that but the prefrontal cortex peaks in function and is at its best in your mid20s

My HS/early college BF was a maths prodigy, including being selected for the US International Mathematical Olympiad team. He started college as a maths major, intending to get a PhD in order to teach and do research. He pivoted to pre-med half way through college as he believed mathematicians peak in their mid to late 20s and he didn’t think he had the chops for it. “I’m just not smart enough.” Now he is nearing retirement, spends his free time hiking, and dabbles in maths problems and occasionally Wordle.

Did he actually end up in medicine?