[SkyBelow]

>before 21 (the commonly accepted age for the latest stage of brain development)

Last I remember from my psychology classes, it was 25 to 28. 21 feels like a number picked to reflect law and cultural norms, not the science. But my information is a decade out of date and there could have been new findings since.

[e40]

I thought 25 was chosen because that's when brain development is mostly completed.

[taurath]

This has become quite the meme lately as a pop-neurology fact, but its... clearly untrue the ways people try to apply it. It creates a sort of fatalism about being able to improve or change your mind that in no way reflects whats actually possible.

[MiroF]

I haven't seen studies supporting 25-28. Most studies support a slightly lower number than 21, but not much lower.

[SkyBelow]

25 to 28 is when the myelination of the brain finishes.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/...

>Further myelination of subcortical and cortical tracts continues in the posterior to anterior direction well into the third decade of life, consistent with the time course of maturation of cognitive functions in children and adolescents.

Mish Shoykhet, Robert S.B. Clark, in Pediatric Critical Care (Fourth Edition), 2011