Yearn to be recognized for creative achievement? Over forty? You may be too late – unless you are female.  Creative production in a variety of fields – mathematics, medicine,  physics, psychology – increased until age 30 -39 and then hit a decline according to H. Lehman.[1]  D. K. Simonton  found the same to be true among composers and musicians and referred to it as the “swan song phenomenon.”  Later works by noted composers were considered less original even though they were often more popular with the audiences.[2] However, these studies used predominantly male populations for data.

Geoffrey Miller found that the peak age of creative output for most writers, painters and musicians was in their thirties and forties. However, Miller took his studies of  bit further due to interest in culture rather than creativity. Most of the earlier findings were based on populations that were primarily or exclusively…