Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Jan:44:122-137.
doi: 10.1016/j.yfrne.2016.12.003. Epub 2016 Dec 19.

Puberty and structural brain development in humans

Megan M Herting  1 , Elizabeth R Sowell  2
Affiliations
Review

Puberty and structural brain development in humans

Megan M Herting et al. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2017 Jan.

Abstract

Adolescence is a transitional period of physical and behavioral development between childhood and adulthood. Puberty is a distinct period of sexual maturation that occurs during adolescence. Since the advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), human studies have largely examined neurodevelopment in the context of age. A breadth of animal findings suggest that sex hormones continue to influence the brain beyond the prenatal period, with both organizational and activational effects occurring during puberty. Given the animal evidence, human MRI research has also set out to determine how puberty may influence otherwise known patterns of age-related neurodevelopment. Here we review structural-based MRI studies and show that pubertal maturation is a key variable to consider in elucidating sex- and individual- based differences in patterns of human brain development. We also highlight the continuing challenges faced, as well as future considerations, for this vital avenue of research.

Keywords: Adolescence; Diffusion tensor imaging; Hormones; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neurodevelopment; Puberty.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aedo AR, Landgren BM, Diczfalusy E. Studies on ovarian and adrenal studies at different phases of the menstrual cycle. IV. The effect of dexamethasone suppression and subsequent ACTH stimulation at different phases of the menstrual cycle and following the administration of 150 mg of depot-medroxy-progesterone acetate (DMPA) Contraception. 1981;24(5):543–558. - PubMed
    1. Ahmad N, Pollard TM, Unwin N. The optimal timing of blood collection during the menstrual cycle for the assessment of endogenous sex hormones: can interindividual differences in levels over the whole cycle be assessed on a single day? Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002;11(1):147–151. - PubMed
    1. Ahmed EI, Zehr JL, Schulz KM, Lorenz BH, DonCarlos LL, Sisk CL. Pubertal hormones modulate the addition of new cells to sexually dimorphic brain regions. Nat Neurosci. 2008;11(9):995–997. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Albrecht L, Styne D. Laboratory testing of gonadal steroids in children. Pediatr Endocrinol Rev. 2007;5(Suppl 1):599–607. - PubMed
    1. Alexander AL, Eun Lee J, Lazar M, Field AS. Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Brain. Neurotherapeutics. 2007;4(3):316–329. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances