Aging and Brain Health

Neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge report in Nature Communications that the human brain passes through five structural 'epochs' from birth to age 90, with key turning points around ages 9 and 32 and a long stable adult phase before aging-related reorganization after 66. Using diffusion MRI in 3,802 individuals, the team found adolescence-like structural changes persist into the early 30s, adulthood stabilizes roughly from 32 to 66, and early aging shows reduced connectivity and white-matter degeneration.