Executive Function and Age of Majority

Humans develop executive function at about age twelve. It takes a year or two of practice to learn to use it effectively.

A bar mitzvah is the Jewish coming‑of‑age milestone at age 13, marking when a boy becomes responsible for observing the commandments and may participate fully in religious life.

Age thirteen or fourteen is a common age of majority in older cultures. It got raised to eighteen or twenty-one in many places as society became more complex and it required more time to learn to effectively navigate society.

My best information suggests brain development doesn't stop until age twenty-five. We don't have all the details mapped for stages of brain development.

(Some people have suggested legal drinking age should be delayed until age twenty-five to optimize brain development. And that's part of why I remember it. I'm generally more concerned with adequate nutrition which we have yet to adequately figure out.)

Executive function -- ability to competently plan things -- is a major milestone long recognized as essential to distinguishing legally competent legal adults from children and other legally incompetent individuals who cannot be held responsible for their actions.