New research suggests that the human brain reaches its peak performance between ages 50 and 60. A study published in the journal Intelligence analyzed data using what researchers call the Cognitive-Personality Functioning Index (CPFI) — a measure that tracks how intelligence, judgment, and key mental and personality traits evolve across the lifespan.
Certain abilities actually improve with age. These include crystallized intelligence (the accumulation of knowledge and experience), as well as personality traits such as diligence and emotional stability. Both moral reasoning and financial literacy also tend to flourish later in life.
On the other hand, cognitive flexibility — the ability to switch between different ideas or think about multiple concepts at once — declines with age. So does cognitive empathy, or the intellectual capacity to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings without necessarily sharing them.
Researchers also found that older adults are less adept at solving abstract puzzles or novel problems, due to a natural decline in fluid intelligence, which involves reasoning and processing new information. Still, while younger people may excel at unfamiliar challenges, older adults outperform in areas that draw on experience and wisdom.
Overall, the study concluded that the benefits of aging outweigh the drawbacks in midlife. Around the late 50s, people reach a “sweet spot,” when accumulated knowledge and judgment surpass the gradual loss of mental speed.
“The mix of accumulated knowledge, judgment and life experience is what shifts the overall peak of human functioning into the late fifties,” said Gilles Gignac, associate professor in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Western Australia. “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.”
Lynn C. Allison ✉
Lynn C. Allison, a Newsmax health reporter, is an award-winning medical journalist and author of more than 30 self-help books.