# Social and Emotional Circuits Mature Into the Twenties by Daniel Goleman > “We know that the prefrontal-limbic neural circuitry crucial for social and emotional abilities is the last part of the human brain to become anatomically mature, not finishing this developmental task until the mid-20s. During that window, children's life abilities become set as neurons come online and are interconnected for better or for worse. A child's experiences dictate how those connections are made.” > **— Daniel Goleman**, *2005 Edge Annual Question, response passage* ## Sources and Context - **Direct publication and locator:** [Psychologist; Author, Emotional Intelligence — Daniel Goleman](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/10398) — 2005 Annual Question response, the full representative extract. - **Exact original excerpt:** “We know that the prefrontal-limbic neural circuitry crucial for social and emotional abilities is the last part of the human brain to become anatomically mature, not finishing this developmental task until the mid-20s. During that window, children's life abilities become set as neurons come online and are interconnected for better or for worse. A child's experiences dictate how those connections are made.” - **Context and editing:** Goleman’s three contiguous sentences concern developmental timing and experience. His later classroom intervention is explicitly called a hunch he cannot prove, so it is not added to the poster. The poster is the complete archived sentence or passage. - **Local Edge archive:** [[research/Edge 2005 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2005 Full Quotation Curation]], response EDGE2005-109. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Greatest Transformation in Human History|The Greatest Transformation in Human History]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Neuroscience|Neuroscience]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Neuroscience|Neuroscience]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We know that the prefrontal-limbic neural circuitry crucial for social and emotional abilities is the last part of the human brain to become anatomically mature, not finishing this developmental task until the mid-20s. During that window, children's life abilities become set as neurons come online and are interconnected for better or for worse. A child's experiences dictate how those connections are made.” — Daniel Goleman, 2005 Edge Annual Question, response passage https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-daniel-goleman-social-emotional-circuits-mature-into-twenties ```