"The average teenager’s brain differs from that of an adult. "

Question

I was wondering if the following sentence is correct:

The average teenager’s brain differs from that of an adult.

Can the place holder "from that of" be used in the sentence above?

Answer 1

In a word, yes.

In my opinion, I consider the usage slightly formal, so I would say "from an adult's", where "adult's" is a possessive pronoun. It works the same, and means the same.