Scientists reveal the surprising age at which your brain reaches its peak - so, are YOUR best days behind you?

With each passing day, you may feel like you're getting further past your peak. 

But panic not – as a new study suggests your best days may still lie ahead of you. 

Scientists in Australia say that overall mental functioning in the brain actually peaks between the ages of 55 and 60. 

People in this age range may be at their best for complex problem–solving tasks and high–ranking leadership roles in the workforce. 

'As your youth fades further into the past, you may start to fear growing older,' said study author Gilles Gignac, professor of psychology at the University of Western Australia. 

'But our research shows there's also very good reason to be excited.

'For many of us, overall psychological functioning actually peaks between ages 55 and 60.

'Perhaps it's time we stopped treating midlife as a countdown and started recognising it as a peak.' 

Previous studies have suggested that humans reach their physical peak in their mid–twenties to early thirties – which is why athletes have such a relatively short career. 

But in terms of a cognitive peak, the picture is much less clear.

In their meta–review of previous research, the team identified 16 key cognitive and personality–related traits, all 'with well–documented age trajectories'. 

The 16 traits included moral reasoning, memory span, processing speed, knowledge and emotional intelligence. 

They also included the so–called 'big five' personality traits – extraversion, emotional stability, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and agreeableness. 

'By standardising these studies to a common scale, we were able to make direct comparisons and map how each trait evolves across the lifespan,' said Professor Gignac said in a piece for The Conversation. 

When they combined the age–related trajectories of all 16 dimensions, a 'striking pattern' emerged, according to the academic.

'Overall mental functioning peaked between ages 55 and 60, before beginning to decline from around 65,' he said. 

'That decline became more pronounced after age 75, suggesting that later–life reductions in functioning can accelerate once they begin.' 

Several of the traits measured reach their peak much later in life, including conscientiousness (peaking around 65) and emotional stability (around 75). 

Less commonly discussed traits, such as moral reasoning, also appear to peak in older adulthood – around 70 and older. 

Although overall mental functioning notably declines after age 75, the capacity to resist cognitive biases – mental shortcuts that can lead us to make irrational decisions – may continue improving well into the 70s and even 80s. 

The findings, published in the journal Intelligence, may explain why many demanding business leadership roles are often held by people in their fifties and sixties. 

People best suited for high–stakes leadership, judgment, or executive roles are likely to be between 55 and 60 – and unlikely to be younger than 40 or older than 65.

However, older workers face greater challenges re–entering the workforce after job losses – perhaps because employers think they're soon to retire. 

'Although many studies emphasize early adulthood declines in fluid cognitive abilities, our findings suggest that when broader adaptive traits are considered, human functional capacity peaks in midlife,' the team conclude. 

'This challenges many conventional assumptions about age and capability, and suggests that midlife may represent the true apex of psychological readiness for complex, consequential roles.' 

Overall, researchers agree there's a difference between 'fluid intelligence' and 'crystallised intelligence' – concepts introduced in 1943 by Birmingham–born psychologist Raymond Cattell. 

Fluid intelligence – described as 'raw processing power' – is the ability to process information quickly and problem solve, while crystallised intelligence is gained through prior learning. 

Fluid intelligence typically peaks in the twenties, while crystallised intelligence tends to increase with age as we gain more experience. 

'When we look beyond raw processing power, a different picture emerges,' said Professor Gignac. 

'Evaluations and assessments should focus on individuals’ actual abilities and traits rather than age–based assumptions.'