The neural basis of puberty and adolescence

“…at around 9 or 10 years of age, a subsequent reduction of dopamine receptor density in the striatum and prefrontal cortex, a transformation that is much more pronounced among males than females (at least in rodents) (Sisk & Foster, 2004; Sisk & Zehr, 2005; Teicher, Andersen, & Hostetter, 1995).”

“The most-obvious outward physical manifestations of puberty are caused by changing levels of hormone”

“A growing literature, derived primarily from rodent studies, but with implications for human development, indicates that the remodeling of the dopaminergic system within the socioemotional network involves an initial postnatal rise and then, starting in preadolescence, a subsequent reduction of dopamine receptor densi…”

“Work in rodent models has shown that exposure to pubertal hormones during adolescence has effects on behavior which persist after the hormones are removed, providing evidence for a long term effect which could be related to changes in brain structure (Schulz and Sisk, 2006; Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“During adolescence, white matter increases in the corpus callosum, the bundle of”

“Puberty is proximally timed by internal and external stimuli that serve as permissive signals for reproductive maturation [18,28,36,111,133].”

“These effects are hypothesized to occur via two relatively distinct processes: organization and activation [Schulz et al., 2009; Sisk and Foster, 2004].”

“(Sisk & Foster, 2004, p. 1045) Risk taking and novelty seeking are hallmarks of typical adolescent behavior.”

“Pubertal changes depend on developmental alterations in the function of the hypothalamo–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis (Romeo, 2003; Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“Evidence from animal studies indicates that the hormonal events of puberty exert profound effects on brain maturation and behaviour (Cahill, 2006; Sisk and Foster, 2004; Spear, 2000).”

“These fi ndings are consistent with the notion that the transition into adolescence potentially marks another period when the environment can exert large effects on the brain (Sisk and Foster, 2004; Schulz et al., 2009).”

“The results for selfreported pubertal changes concur with prior research on pubertal development showing that puberty starts earlier in girls than boys (Carskadon and Acebo, 1993; Sisk and Foster, 2004; Shirtcliff et al., 2009).”

“Subcortical regions functionally associated with emotion processing and reward undergo considerable changes and reorganization during puberty (Brenhouse & Andersen, 2011; Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“…developmental period, with research indicating that structural reorganization, brain and cognitive maturation and—in particular—major developments in the prefrontal cortex take place during puberty (Luna and Sweeney, 2001; Sisk, 2004; Peper et al., 2009; Asato et al., 2010; Blakemore et al., 2010).”

“…circulating gonadal hormones affect both organizational and activational mechanisms to influence brain function across development (Steinberg, 2008; Sisk & Foster, 2004; Romeo & Sisk, 2001) and has shown a predictive relationship between pubertal status and such appetitive behaviors as sensation…”

“Cerebral Cortex September 2010;20:2122--2131 doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp282 Advance Access publication January 5, 2010”

“For these reasons, biobehavioral researchers increasingly seek to examine measures of puberty to clarify studies of emotion-related neural circuitry (Nelson, Leibenluft, McClure, & Pine, 2005; Sisk & Foster, 2004 ), psychopathology (Angold & Worthman, 1993; Cyranowski, Frank, Young, & Shear, 2000), cognition (Steinber…”

“This may be especially true as adolescents move further through puberty, as neural and hormonal changes associated with puberty also appear to drive a need for affiliation with others (Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“Although the terms puberty and adolescence are often used interchangeably, and have some chronological overlap, these terms have separate meanings (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“…‘‘gonadal maturation and behavioral maturation are two distinct brain-driven processes with separate timing and neurobiological mechanisms, but they are intimately coupled through iterative interactions between the nervous system and gonadal steroid hormones” (Sisk & Foster, 2004, p. 1040).”

“, 2011; Sisk and Foster, 2004), as puberty onset in females occurs 2–3 years earlier than in males (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“Puberty occurs within the broader scope of adolescence and refers to the activation of the previously dormant hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis that culminates in gonadal maturation (Sisk and Foster 2004).”

“the onset of puberty (Silverman et al., 1994; Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“Puberty refers to gonadal maturation, while adolescence refers to a gradual period of maturation of social and cognitive behaviors (Powell 2006; Sisk and Foster 2004).”

“While the most dramatic structural changes in the healthy human brain are thought to occur in the perinatal period [Huttenlocher and Dabholkar, 1997], there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that adolescence is also a period of substantial neurodevelopment [Sisk and Foster, 2004].”

“Puberty starts in the brain—with the release of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus under the influence of neural mechanisms that are still opaque (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“neural, and behavioral events of sexual maturation [336], and is”

“The inclusion of paediatric data in neural morphological studies is potentially problematic given the growth and development typically occurring in the brains of children and adolescents (Sisk and Foster, 2004; Hedges et al., 2007; Whitford et al., 2007).”

“Despite the importance of hormones in neurodevelopmental processes (Giedd et al., 2006; Goddings et al., 2014; Romeo, 2003; Sisk and Foster, 2004; Spear, 2000), the relationship between puberty and brain connectivity changes remains poorly understood.”

“Definitions of adolescence can also be reasonably based on gonadal changes as they are relevant to sexual maturation (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“... there is not much of one to tell.) Animal studies suggest that some of the changes in dopaminergic activity are directly attributable to the hormonal changes of puberty, that some are indirectly attributable to them (in that the presence of gonadal hormones may catalyze other processes), and that some are merely c…”

“Adolescence is the transition between childhood and adulthood , during which significant physical, social, and behavioral changes occur (Sisk and Foster 2004; Sisk and Zehr 2005).”

“Because the most important adolescent behavioral changes and many important neuronal maturational processes are closely linked to pubertal development ( Sisk & Foster 2004 ), the more exact time window of puberty (around pd 38 to pd 60 in males and pd 28 to ~pd 40 in females) (Fig. 1) might be the better choice for st…”

“…network involves an initial postnatal rise and then, starting in preadolescence, a subsequent reduction of dopamine receptor density in the striatum and prefrontal cortex; this pattern is more pronounced among males than females (Sisk & Foster 2004, Sisk & Zehr 2005, Teicher et al. 1995).”

“…influencing risk in multiple domains of psychopathology, such as greater susceptibility to peer influence, heightened sensitivity to social cues and negative facial expressions, as well as increased risk-taking/novelty-seeking behaviors (Dumontheil, 2016; Sisk & Foster, 2004; Steinberg, 2010).”

“The most common explanation for potential sex differences in cortical development is the sexually dimorphic effects of puberty, with support coming from experimental studies on animal and more recently observational studies in humans [Bramen et al., 2011; Peper et al., 2009; Raznahan et al., 2010; Sisk and Foster, 200…”

“, 1989), their secretory activity is quiescent during the prepubertal period (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“It is a time of maturation of social and cognitive behaviour in preparation for adulthood, with adolescents showing significant increases in exploratory behaviour, in social play, and in risktaking (Doremus-Fitzwater et al., 2009; Sisk & Foster, 2004; Spear, 2000a).”

“Finally, the timing of the reactivation of the GnRH pulse could be due to both internal and external sources (Sisk and Foster, 2004); the existence of an hypothalamic pubertal clock or of brain sensors, which is also able to monitor circulating signals of somatic development, may co-ordinate the…”

“There are likely numerous permissive signals that trigger pubertal onset, including the hormones leptin and ghrelin as well as body composition (Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“…has been subsequently extended to the first acquisition of reproductive competence in all mammalian and nonmammalian vertebrates and in invertebrates (Sisk and Foster 2004; Perfito and Bentley 2009; Taranger et al. 2010), thereby representing a universal process of vital importance among various…”

“Indeed, adolescent development is increasingly being viewed as an additional period of hormone-dependent organization of the brain and behavior [95,118,115,124,125].”

“While adolescence includes the pubertal stages of development, it also encompasses the more gradual acquisition of psychosocial skills that precede, accompany and follow the capacity to produce offspring [18,34,36].”

“Furthermore, not only is puberty important for activational effects of steroid hormones on neonatally imprinted circuits [12,153,16, 116,119], but the brain may be sensitive to the organizational effects of steroid hormones during this developmental stage [119,129,39,144].”

“Adolescent development entails bodily, cognitive and emotional changes (Sisk & Foster 2004; Spear 2000) that usually co-occur with major transitions in social relationships (Douglas et al. 2003; Smetana et al. 2006).”

“These processes of restructuring in the pubertal brain are argued to be driven by hormonal changes (Sisk and Foster 2004; Sisk and Zehr 2005; Schulz et al. 2009) and to carry functional consequences on higher order brain functions such as executive functions and social cognition (Blake-more and…”

“Thus, it is possible that the effects of pubertal development on brain response could differ for males and females based on differences in both the timing of puberty and the levels of different pubertal hormones (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“While puberty takes place during adolescence, these are different constructs because puberty is a discrete measurable event, while adolescence is a gradual brain and behavioral maturation process that encompasses a more extensive portion of ontogeny (Sisk and Foster, 2004).”

“In terms of the psychopathy phenotype, a wealth of evidence indicates that levels and the nature of aggression, antisocial behavior, and related traits, such as empathy and risk taking, undergo dramatic changes at puberty (Moffitt, 1993; Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“Moreover, puberty itself may be associated with further organizational or reorganizational changes in the nervous system and is beginning to be considered a second critical period for brain sexual differentiation [32].”

“2818" language="eng" relation="no"> Puberty, in humans and mice, is a transition period of gonadal and behavioral maturation that occurs between juvenile stages and adulthoo”

“…one line of research has focused on the pattern of proliferation and pruning of dopamine receptors in the striatum and prefrontal cortex (PFC) during adolescence as an underlying mechanism of increased functional activation of the reward-related system during this period (Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“These two developmental stages are largely comparable between mice and rats, and roughly correspond to a period between 11–16 year and B20 years onward, respectively, in humans (Spear, 2000; Sisk and Foster, 2004; Rasier et al, 2006).”

“tive feedback leads to increased secretion of LH and FSH and activation of the reproductive system [285].”

“Although many rodent neural systems mature during adolescence (Brenhouse and Andersen 2011; McCutcheon and Marinelli 2009; Sisk and Foster 2004; Spear 2000), the maturation of DA neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) that project to the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and NAc is perhaps the…”

“Sexual behavior develops according to a species-specific, genetically controlled, maturational plan in which the age at first reproduction occurs within a specific age range (87).”

“It is possible that the release of PTTH at the larval-pupal transition might additionally require disinhibition of inhibitory input(s), as proposed for the secretion of GnRH from hypothalamic neurons at the onset of puberty (5, 10).”

“The primary mechanism for pubertal onset remains unclear [37, 38] but in rats DOV is a hallmark of puberty and was therefore used as the physiological indicator of puberty.”

“(Mauras et al., 1996; Sisk and Foster, 2004; Gilbert et al., 1997; Gilbert et al., 2002).”

“Defining adolescence Adolescence is regarded as “the gradual period of transition from childhood to adulthood” (Spear 2000), which encompasses puberty, the period during which sexual maturity is attained [for detailed reviews, see also Schneider (2008, 2013) and Sisk and Foster (2004)].”

“Remnants of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH + ) neurons, which are essential for autonomic functions relating to sexual behaviou”

“…for the integration and coordination of various brain functions, and as such, it is prone to involvement in several major brain disorders (Saper, 1990; Overeem et al., 2002; Sisk and Foster, 2004; Swaab, 2006; Aziz et al., 2007; Bao et al., 2008; Willis, 2008; Gordon, 2010; Kalsbeek et al., 2010).”

“synaptic pruning (Sisk and Foster 2004).”

“…changes in the reproductive system, puberty is characterized by a period of rapid reorganization of neural circuitry, which is thought to influence regions of the brain associated with planning, drug sensitivity, response to reward, decisionmaking, and risk-taking (Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“Adolescence is a transitional phase between childhood and adulthood in which puberty is a defining characteristic, although adolescence encompasses a wider range of developmental changes than does puberty (Sisk and Foster, 2004; Blakemore et al., 2010).”

“…respectively causes further sexual differentiation of behaviors including aggression in males and feeding-related behaviors in females (Juraska, Sisk, & DonCarlos, 2013; Schulz, Molenda-Figueira, & Sisk, 2009; Schulz et al., 2004; Schulz & Sisk, 2006; Sisk & Foster, 2004; Sisk & Zehr, 2005).”

“throughout adolescence and into early young adulthood, with accelerated development of higher-order skills such as executive functions.(9,10) The full extent of executive dysfunction may only become evident in adolescence and adulthood, with the onset of expectations to act more independently and use advanced planning…”

“were Tanner stage three, four, or five on the Tanner scale that assesses breast/genital development, an index reflecting changes in levels of gonadal steroids, which influence neural development and affect-related brain function [33].”

“Further, there is increasing evidence that pubertal hormones could have an impact on structural and functional brain maturation, as well as on behavior (Sisk and Foster, 2004; Blakemore et al., 2010).”

“Many of these changes have been linked with puberty, the biological process that culminates in reproductive competence and a defining event of adolescence (Sisk & Foster, 2004).”

“Animal studies have shown that the brain’s response to both sensory and steroidal stimulation differs in juveniles, adolescents and adults [8].”