How does reaction time change with age?

Simple reaction time is quickest in the late teens and twenties and then slows gradually. The change is small from year to year, and differences between people of the same age are often bigger than the differences between age groups.

What studies found

• Reaction time studies across adulthood consistently find slower average responses in older groups, with a wider spread.
• A 2014 PLOS ONE study by Thompson, Blair and Henrey, using data from thousands of StarCraft 2 players, found that in-game response speed started to decline from about age 24.
• Choice reaction (pick the right response among several) slows more with age than simple reaction (one signal, one response).

I’m not quoting a “normal time for each age” table here, because published averages depend heavily on the device and the test. A number from one website’s test doesn’t carry over to another test.

Why older players can still win

Games reward more than raw speed: reading the opponent, staying calm, not false-starting. Experience helps with all of those.

Comparing yourself fairly

1. Use one test on one device.
2. Take the median of several tries, not the best.
3. Note sleep and time of day, which both move the result.
4. Track your own trend over weeks.

Cowboy Duel (my app) keeps personal bests and a history of your rounds, which makes step 4 easy. Its ranks run from Keep Practicing up to Lightning Fast Gunslinger; treat them as game ranks, not medical categories.

Related: what is a good reaction time, reflex games for the whole family and the Cowboy Duel guides.