The role of puberty in the developing adolescent brain

Adolescence refers to the period of physical and psychological development between childhood and adulthood. The beginning of adolescence is loosely anchored to the onset of puberty, which brings dramatic alterations in hormone levels and a number of consequent physical changes. Puberty onset is also associated with profound changes in drives, motivations, psychology, and social life; these changes continue throughout adolescence. There is an increasing number of neuroimaging studies looking at the development of the brain, both structurally and functionally, during adolescence. Almost all of these studies have defined development by chronological age, which shows a strong-but not unitary-correlation with…

• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01 DA018910, NIH R01
• NI
  National Institute on Drug Abuse

  Award: DA018910