If You Don't Feel Like an Adult Yet, This Might be Why

Raise your hand if you absolutely didn't feel like an adult when you hit 18...or 22...or 25..or 30.

Yeah, same. At 37, I still have those moments when I'm like "holy sh*t, I'm not a teenage girl anymore — I'm a whole adult human".

There isn't one single point that hits when you find yourself like "yup, this is it: I feel like an adult". It's more a series of moments, some big (like welcoming a baby), some small (like the first time you nail a recipe). But one thing is clear: You can be a legal adult and still feel very much like a child, and...maybe this research sort of explains why?

Neuroscientists from the University of Cambridge have found five major turning points in brain structure over the course of human life. And, well — let's just say that point when a brain exits its childhood stage and enters its adulthood era does not line up with the legal definition of an adult in the United States.

According to a release for the research, the brain's topography shifts into adult mode around a person's early 30s. That phase lasts until the next major shift takes place around age 65.

The study’s findings are pretty fascinating, and you can catch more info here. But what’s most interesting to me is the mismatch between when you’re considered an adult and when your brain truly reaches this adult stage.

According to the release, when your brain hits that adult stage around age 32, brain architecture stabilizes, and according to the release, you may notice a plateau in intelligence and personality around this time.

The TL;DR? If your life doesn’t look at all like you thought it would in adulthood? Well, join the club. And feel free to blame this research.