title: The influence of puberty on subcortical brain development.
abstract: Puberty is characterized by hormonal, physical and psychological transformation. The human brain undergoes significant changes between childhood and adulthood, but little is known about how puberty influences its structural development. Using a longitudinal sample of 711 magnetic resonance imaging scans from 275 individuals aged 7-20years, we examined how subcortical brain regions change in relation to puberty. Our regions of interest included the amygdala, hippocampus and corpus striatum including the nucleus accumbens (NA), caudate, putamen and globus pallidus (GP). Pubertal development was significantly related to structural volume in all six regions in both sexes. Pubertal development and age had both independent and interactive influences on volume for the amygdala, hippocampus and putamen in both sexes, and the caudate in females. There was an interactive puberty-by-age effect on volume for the NA and GP in both sexes, and the caudate in males. These findings suggest a significant role for puberty in structural brain development.
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH, UK; UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK. Electronic address: anne-lise.goddings@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Anne-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Goddings
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK; Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Kathryn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Mills
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Liv S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Clasen
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Jay N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Giedd
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
authors.forename: Russell M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Viner
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah-Jayne
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Blakemore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D041923:Adolescent Development; D000679:Amygdala / Q000254:growth & development; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000254:growth & development; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000254:growth & development; D011627:Puberty
keywords: Adolescence; MRI; Puberty; Subcortex