This study of 1.6 million chess moves found the age we hit our cognitive peak

Oct 30, 2020

Dinara Saduakassova, a 23-year-old Kazakh chess player and social activist, teaches children in the Chess Academy she founded in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan March 3, 2020. Saduakassova has opened a chain of chess schools in the country and has become a Goodwill Ambassador of the UNICEF. Picture taken March 3, 2020. REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev - RC2ODF99KN3U

Cognitive ability rises sharply until the early 20s and then plateaus. Image: REUTERS/Pavel Mikheyev

Victoria Masterson

Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

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The hump of human cognitive ability. Image: PNAS

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Our cognitive ability today is better than our ancestors. Image: PNAS

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