title: Puberty and structural brain development in humans.
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.
authors.affiliation: University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States. Electronic address: herting@usc.edu.
authors.forename: Megan M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Herting
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Research on Children, Youth, and Families, Los Angeles, CA 90027, United States.
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Sowell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology*; D012741:Sexual Maturation
chemical_list: D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones
keywords: Adolescence; Diffusion tensor imaging; Hormones; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neurodevelopment; Puberty