Journal article

The effects of puberty and its hormones on subcortical brain development.

Nandita Vijayakumar, George Youssef, Nicholas B Allen, Vicki Anderson, Daryl Efron, Lisa Mundy, George Patton, Julian G Simmons, Tim Silk, Sarah Whittle

Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol | Elsevier BV | Published : 2021

Abstract

Puberty triggers a period of structural "re-organization" in the brain, when rising hormone levels act via receptors to influence morphology. However, our understanding of these neuroendocrine processes in humans remains poor. As such, the current longitudinal study characterized development of the human subcortex during puberty, including changes in relation to pubertal (Tanner) stage and hormone (testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone [DHEA]) levels. Beyond normative group-level patterns of development, we also examined whether individual differences in the rate of pubertal maturation (i.e., "pubertal/hormonal tempo") were associated with variations in subcortical trajectories. Participants ..

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