Ideal age of marriage according to neuroscience

Those opposing the bill have argued that reducing the legal marriage age for men to 18 could bring about gender equality. There is also a view that such changes need instead proper implementation of existing laws. Then there’s an age-old argument that’s often brought up in any debate on age appropriate in this country: a proposal to go up to the age at which we are eligible to vote. The question has been raised: “In a country where 18-year-olds can choose who should be their prime minister, why can’t they, at 18, decide who they want to marry?”

So, what is the appropriate age for a person to take the decision of marriage?

Of all living beings, human babies are the least developed at their birth. Newborns of most animals can stand on their feet within minutes after birth, and are ready to have their own offspring within two or three years. Humans attain fertility after attaining puberty at the age of about 10-12 years. Several studies, including a notable study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, have found that boys and girls are now starting puberty earlier than previously recorded. This can be attributed to increased body mass index in children, nutritional factors and/or hormonal effects of their dietary intake.

Sociologically speaking, the age at which girls are generally expected to marry has long been influenced by their age of puberty. The patriarchal view in many societies is that it is the divine duty of a girl’s guardian to hand her over to her husband, protecting chastity. The sooner girls were married after puberty, the sooner the so-called ‘protectors’ of their chastity could breathe a sigh of relief. Thus, the marriageable age of women in the 19th century was about 10 years. By 1940 this had increased to 12-14 years. By 1978, the marriageable age had dropped to just 15. Now, with the government’s decision to raise their marriage age to 21, the gap between a girl attaining puberty and getting married has widened a bit. Is this decision to extend the time between a woman’s achievement of fertility and the granting of her legal reproductive rights a step in the right direction?

There are a number of studies that suggest teen pregnancy carries a higher risk of reproductive health challenges. Evidence gathered by demographer Ann Blanc and others suggests that giving birth in adolescence is quite unsafe and maternal mortality after age 18 is very low.

In addition to this important health fact, any decision on the age of marriage should be guided by our knowledge of the source of all human judgment: the human brain.

Over the past few decades, the advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has offered a safe and accurate way to study the anatomy and physiology of the brain in people of all ages. Therefore our knowledge of different brain systems, their interactions and their impact on a wide range of cognitive and emotional processes has increased substantially. The consistent theme that emerges is that different parts of the brain reach maturity at different ages and that the adolescent brain is far from mature. The brain’s reward systems, which allow young people to seek out life’s thrills such as sex and speed, usually mature by the age of puberty. Studies on humans and laboratory animals generally support the notion that juveniles are more sensitive to rewards than adults. During adolescence, this hyper-responsive reward system manifests in many ways, including heightened levels of sensation-seeking and risk-taking.

Consider the prefrontal cortex, the brain system responsible for controlling emotions, controlling impulsive behavior, assessing risks, and making decisions about the consequences of choices. It is the biological reality that the prefrontal cortex reaches maturity only by the age of 25. Therefore, until the age of 25, the risk management and long-term planning capabilities of the human brain don’t kick into high gear.

In her article ‘The Amazing Teen Brain’ in Scientific American, Jay N. Gide, chair of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Reminds us of the importance of a mismatch between the maturation of networks in the limbic system, which drives emotion and is turbo-boosted at puberty, and the maturation of networks in the prefrontal cortex, which occurs later and leads to sound judgment and Promotes impulse control.

If we assume that attaining fertility and maturation of the brain’s reward systems is the only basis of marriage age, then humans are ready as they approach puberty. But if we believe that marriage requires individuals to take significant responsibility for their decisions, then they should wait until their prefrontal cortex is fully mature. If yes, then the minimum age of marriage for men and women should be 25 years.

Biju Dominic is Chief Promoter, Fractal Analytics and President of Final Mile Consulting