- Joined
- Apr 20, 2018
The myelin sheath keep developing till 30yo. Does that mean that people before 30 are not enough developed, and people after 30 are? Of course that 26yo person is probably more mature that 16yo. But that doeasn't mean that some 16yo can't be a 'mature' person too, because it already has all important ingridiens to be.
I'm not a neuroscientist. But from my understanding, the myelin sheath is part of the central nervous system. It is important for helping to send electrical impulses. Its the fatty insulation that surrounds all nerves throughout the body. But yes, there is an argument to be made that people are still developing neurologically as thy reach their 30s. In fact, its pretty well established that the brain is still developing into the mid-late 20s.
This is different than making decisions about "legal" adulthood. Is someone really developmentally that different the day before their 18th birthday? No. But there needs to be a cutoff somewhere for legal reasons and it can be somewhat arbitrary. Whether this is a good age to make that determination is a different argument and a lot of science would actually say it should be early 20s. We can measure some aspects of cognitive abilities through neuropsychological testing and imaging. And the cognitive abilities of someone at age 16 is different than at the age of 26 in a meaningful way. There may be small differences between someone at age 26 and 30 but it likely isn't enough to be meaningful.