What’s The Smartest Age

Introduction: The Smartest Age and the Annual Brain Clash

What is the smartest age? This is a question that may be answered through friendly competition. The annual Brain Clash, a decathlon of mental challenges, trivia competitions, and puzzles, is set to take place tomorrow. Ten teams of two will compete, and I have been training all year. The challenge now is to pick the smartest, most capable teammate from a roster of potential candidates.

Meet the Potential Teammates

First, there’s Gabriela. Despite being only 8 years old, she is not to be underestimated. Fluent in two languages, she is an ultimate outside-the-box thinker. Then there’s Ama, who can recite 100 digits of pi, designs satellites for a living, and bakes a perfect soufflé. Lastly, there’s Mr. Taylor, the neighborhood’s best chess player who has competed in over 20 Brain Clashes and is a five-time champion. The question remains: who’s the smartest? Which of these teammates should I choose for tomorrow’s contest and why?

Understanding Intelligence and the Concept of ‘Smart’

Of course, the answer depends on how we define ‘smart’. While intelligence is often associated with things like IQ tests, these assessments fail to capture the scope and depth of a person’s varied abilities. So instead, we’ll break down the idea of “smart” into categories like creativity, memory, and learning and explore when the brain’s best at each of them.

Brain Development and Skills at Different Ages

In the first few years of life, the brain undergoes incredible rapid growth, called synaptogenesis, where more than 1 million new neural connections are formed every second. As the brain develops, it goes through a pruning process. Based on your experience and environment, used connections are strengthened and unused connections are removed. This creates a more efficient, fine-tuned brain. However, this brain remodeling happens within and between brain regions at different times, allowing different skills to flourish at different ages.

Childhood: Language Learning and Creative Thinking

For example, in childhood, brain regions involved in language learning develop quickly, which is why many children can learn and master multiple languages. Yet the prefrontal cortex, a brain region responsible for cognitive control and inhibition, is slower to develop. As a result, some young children may struggle with strategic games, such as chess or checkers, which require constant concentration, planning, and abstract thought. At the same time, children tend to be more flexible, exploration-based learners. They often use more creative approaches when finding solutions to riddles and are, on average, less afraid to make mistakes.

Adulthood: Focus, Memory, and Quick Problem-Solving

Adults, on the other hand, benefit from a well-developed prefrontal cortex, allowing them to better execute skills that require learning, focus, and memory, making them quick and efficient puzzle solvers or crossword masters. However, late in adulthood, these same skills may decline as the brain’s memory center, known as the hippocampus, shrinks. But there’s a reason for the phrase “older and wiser.” After a lifetime of learning, older adults have more knowledge to recall and utilize, making them excellent trivia partners.

Adolescence: Logic, Motivation, and Adventurous Learning

Other factors to consider are the strengths of an adolescent like me. The prefrontal cortical regions of the brain are more developed in adolescence than in childhood. This allows for better navigation of logic and math puzzles. Simultaneously, deep inside the brain, regions that are important in motivation and reward are developing even faster, driving teenagers to be curious and adventurous learners. In many ways, teenagers can be considered jacks-of-all-trades, with brains wired to seek out new experiences and learn quickly. This dynamic stage allows the choices made and the skills focused on to guide the development of the brain.

Conclusion: The Smartest Age

So, what’s the smartest age? There’s no single answer. It’s 8, 16, 25, 65, and everything in between; our brains have adapted to prioritize different skills at various ages to meet that stage of life’s challenges and demands. So no matter who I pick, having an age-diverse team is a good strategy for the Brain Clash.