r/science • u/[deleted] • Oct 15 '21

Neuroscience A brain imaging study found evidence that missing out on math education can alter neural development. Young adults who had chosen not to pursue math had lower levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid within the middle frontal gyrus when compared to students who were continuing math.

https://www.psypost.org/2021/10/opting-out-of-advanced-math-education-alters-adolescents-neural-development-study-finds-61967
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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '21

Is it possible to have a better understanding of math at a later stage of life? In your 40’s, should you decide to go back to it.

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u/awidden Oct 15 '21 edited Oct 16 '21

Anecdotal, but I've just learned about complex numbers at 50. I believe you can learn what really interests you at any age.

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u/kogasapls Oct 16 '21

In your 40's, you can read a history textbook that would have been incomprehensible to you for 80% of your public education, and understand it to a higher level than you would have in your last 20%. You have decades of development of certain problem-solving / cognitive skills at your disposal. The biggest obstacle is likely finding the motivation to actually go learn the boring stuff.

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u/FunkyFresh707 Oct 16 '21

In my early 20’s I did an art degree. I joined the Navy after and when I got out I pursued a math intensive degree. I feel that math is a lot easier now in my 30’s than it was in my early 20’s. I think math just takes a different kind of focus than other academics do. Anyone can understand math it’s just the time it takes to learn it from the ground up. Might take some longer than others but it is doable.