Doctor reveals the age your brain peaks and what happens to it as it gets older

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from that point onwards.

But don't you worry, mate – the brain's still got plenty of tricks up its sleeve. Research says that the brain's got a

In early childhood, from birth to five years old, our brains have "rapid growth in neural connections and learning capacity", he said, adding that this is the period when the "foundation" is laid for learning language, social interactions and problem-solving.

Then comes adolescence, between the ages of 10 to 20, when unused neural connections are "pruned", which is why it's a bit tougher to pick up new skills.

After that is the stage of brain maturity that we reach in our mid-twenties, but this is still not the full extent of it - this is when the parts of our brains that control impulses, emotions and planning finish developing.

It's not until we reach our 40s to 60s, when our brains really hit their prime.

Dr Mindea said: "A lot of people experience a change in what they consider important, often prioritising what they can contribute to the future generation and taking more time for self-reflection."

This is also when some people experience what's known as 'cognitive peak', particularly in areas such as verbal memory and acquired knowledge.

This is when your brain will be working at its absolute peak.

After that, in late adulthood and beyond, from the age of 65 onwards, the brain gradually shrinks in areas related to memory, which is why forgetfulness can occur at this stage.

But intelligence "remains intact or even improves", it just takes longer to bring up that information from memory.

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