Humans are thought to reach their physical peak in their mid-to-late 20s, and their optimal happiness in their early 20s or in retirement. Previous research suggested that reasoning, memory span, and processing speed decline after early adulthood.
But according to a new study, middle age is actually the peak of brain functioning.
New research, published in the journal Intelligence, found that humans’ cognitive ability is at its best between the ages of 55 to 60, with achievements like career success tending to climax later in life.
The study’s lead author, Dr Gilles Gignac of the University of Western Australia, told The Times: “The mix of accumulated knowledge, judgment and life experience is what shifts the overall peak of human functioning into the late fifties.
“So, while youth has advantages, maturity arguably brings a broader and more powerful set of tools for navigating complex problems and responsibilities. While some people might find this obvious, it had never been quantified and established scientifically.”
While fluid intelligence, which is often believed to be the most important cognitive ability, tends to peak at around 20 years old, other dimensions like crystallised intelligence and emotional intelligence continued to improve, the study said.
Researchers analysed age-related trends across nine markers linked to life success, which were cognitive abilities, personality traits, emotional intelligence, financial literacy, moral reasoning, resistance to sunk cost bias, cognitive flexibility, cognitive empathy, and need for cognition.
They created two models to test this and found that in both, overall functioning peaked during late midlife.
Crystallised intelligence, which is responsible for applying acquired knowledge, decision-making and problem-solving, continues to improve as you age. Other traits, including emotional intelligence, moral reasoning, and resistance to the sunk cost fallacy - the ability to abandon something that is not proving to be beneficial - also peak later on.
“These compensatory developments may help offset the declines observed in fluid cognitive abilities, facilitating effective decision-making and achievements well into later adulthood,” the study said.
Researchers said the findings suggest “that functional capacity, defined in terms of key differential psychological traits, may peak in late midlife, closely aligning with the typical peak in career achievement”.
They added: “Also, individuals best suited for high-stakes decision-making roles are unlikely to be younger than 40 or older than 65.”
A recent study of more than ten million Americans and 40,000 British households found the “unhappiness hump” that scientists had observed for decades - in which worry, stress and depression peak in midlife, and then decline - may have disappeared.
The study found that instead, the average 22-year-old was likely to be unhappier than their parents. Professor David Blanchflower of Dartmouth College said the shift was not due to middle-agers becoming happier, but rather because Gen Z were more prone to despair and anxiety.
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