Interestingly enough, the age of the end of puberty is actually 25 years old.
The brain doesn’t reach full “adult form” until 25.
Yet at the same time, the “age of reason” is about 7-8 years old, and it seems to bear out as true with various psychological studies through the years. 7-8 is when social awareness begins _typically_ – an explosion of social awareness.
So here’s the gap: age 7 – 25.
[that is, if you’re going by all the assumptions that there even _is_ such a thing as a “fully formed brain” vs undeveloped. I don’t; because the brain is a bunch of goo and the connections shift around the brain throughout a person’s lifetime and is _never fixed. I believe adulthood is a _bit_ of a myth, due to physical development and a power struggle more than brain development.
In short, if we were all the same size and strength, our capabilities wouldn’t be THAT different, with a few significant exceptions of course.
But the myelin sheath does play a factor in social thinking and imagination. Between the ages of 13-25, sociopathic behavior is not uncommon yet it’s also not universal either. It used to be thought that schizophrenia was a “college problem” – as the onset is around 19-21 years old typically; and often the ‘snap’ happens in college… although it may have more to do with the sudden influx of responsibility and “the adult role” overwhelming the brain.
Now they have seen the traits begin around middle school. I’m glad they are getting earlier and earlier diagnosis for what used to be considered “just hormonal”. it’s sometimes much more than that.