The brain is ‘built’ back to front.

The brain is ‘built’ back to front. I heard someone say yesterday.

Literally, as you grind through the decades, this is how your brain grows, if I’ve got this right.

The back of the greedy organ comes first: The brainstem, cerebellum etc for basic survival functions like, you know, breathing, movement, balance.

Next up it’s the limbic system. Your trusty amygdala (serial killers, psychopaths aside), the brilliantly-named hippocampus built for emotion, memory and reward.

The front bit comes last. The old prefrontal cortex: decision-making, planning, self-regulation, empathy.

Predictably, given my age, I got introspective about this. Experience keeps training your front part. More reflection, more introspection.

Here’s the good bit: Creativity doesn’t fade. It grows sharper, more intentional.

As a kid, you’re pure imagination. No brakes. No prefrontal to police ideas.

As a teenager at art college, I made what I confidently called “cool shit.” No explanation. No justification. Just instinct and dopamine.

In my 30s it was all discipline and technical skill, tainted with fear of judgement and perfectionism.

40s you, er, ‘pattern up’ after decades of patten definition. Ego out, meaning in. Emotional honesty.

What if this was analogous to brands…

Many live permanently in the limbic phase: chasing dopamine metrics and trends, making noise without framework, confusing excitement for direction. Many die, unable to find their unique position in the market.

Few make it to the front part – the prefrontal bit where intention lives. Meaning. Restraint. True identity.

But that’s where the real creative edge sits.