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Cited by 284Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormonesChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentNeural and Behavioral Psychology Studies

The Teenage Brain: Surging Hormones—Brain-Behavior Interactions During Puberty

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Peper, Jiska S., Dahl, Ronald E.·2013·Current Directions in Psychological Science
DOI 10.1177/0963721412473755PMC PMC4539143
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Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the surging hormones of puberty and their influences on adolescent behavior. We describe why these issues represent an interesting and important area of investigation, emphasizing their contributions to a specific set of developmental processes at the heart of the transition from childhood to adolescence. We briefly review the neuroendocrine underpinnings of human puberty. Our review focuses on evidence for behavioral (and neurobehavioral) effects of gonadal hormones and emphasizes the social and affective dimensions of these hormonal effects. More broadly, we consider how these hormonal events contribute to brain-behavior interactions that can bias early adolescent trajectories in both positive and negative directions, and in ways that may begin as small influences but can spiral into large-scale effects over time. These influences also appear to play an important role in functional and structural brain development during adolescence. Finally, we offer some thoughts on directions for future research in these areas.

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  • Hormone-related changes sensitize the adolescent brain to reward.

    “It is thought that these hormone-related changes sensitize the adolescent brain to reward (Forbes and Dahl, 2010, Peper and Dahl, 2013), as appears to be the case in animal studies (Alexander et al., 1994, Clark et al., 1996, Miele et al., 1988).”

    From The dual systems model: Review, reappraisal, and reaffirmation (2016) · cites this paper as Peper and Dahl, 2013

  • At the seventh day of the menstrual cycle, hormone levels are less influenced by fluctuations in the cycle.

    “At the seventh day of the menstrual cycle hormone levels are less influenced by fluctuations in the cycle (Mihm et al., 2011;Peper and Dahl, 2013).”

    From Longitudinal Changes in Adolescent Risk-Taking: A Comprehensive Study of Neural Responses to Rewards, Pubertal Development, and Risk-Taking Behavior (2015) · cites this paper as Peper and Dahl, 2013

    The Estradiol section says estradiol levels are relatively high in the mid-luteal phase, but it does not discuss hormone stability on the seventh day of the cycle. Searches for day seven and the follicular phase found no passage addressing the claimed reduction in fluctuations; page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.74)

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Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 25

  1. Ahmed EI Zehr JL Schulz KM Lorenz BH DonCarlos LL Sisk CL Pubertal hormones modulate the addition of new cells to sexually dimorphic brain regions Nat Neurosci 2008 11 9 995 997 19160494 PMC2772186
  2. Carter CS Developmental consequences of oxytocin. [Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. Review] Physiol Behav 2003 79 3 383 397 12954433
  3. Delemarre-van de Waal HA Regulation of puberty Best.Pract.Res.Clin.Endocrinol.Metab 2002 16 1 1 12 11987894
  4. Euling SY Herman-Giddens ME Lee PA Selevan SG Juul A Sorensen TI Swan SH Examination of US puberty-timing data from 1940 to 1994 for secular trends: panel findings. [Comparative Study Consensus Development Conference] Pediatrics 2008 121 Suppl 3 S172 S191 18245511
  5. Forbes EE Ryan ND Phillips ML Manuck SB Worthman CM Moyles DL Dahl RE Healthy adolescents' neural response to reward: associations with puberty, positive affect, and depressive symptoms J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2010 49 2 162 172 e161 e165 20215938 PMC2837556
  6. Goddings ALBH S Bird G Viner RM Blakemore SJ The relationship between puberty and social emotion processing Developmental Science (in press). PMC3795450 23106734
  7. Gordon I Martin C Feldman R Leckman JF Oxytocin and social motivation. [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review] Dev Cogn Neurosci 2011 1 4 471 493 21984889 PMC3185363
  8. Jacobs E D'Esposito M Estrogen shapes dopamine-dependent cognitive processes: implications for women's health J Neurosci 2011 31 14 5286 5293 21471363 PMC3089976
  9. Josephs RA Mehta PH Carre JM Gender and social environment modulate the effects of testosterone on social behavior: comment on Eisenegger et al. [Comment Letter] Trends Cogn Sci 2011 15 11 509 510 author reply 510–511. 21974876 This review discusses socially and environmentally modulated effects on (pubertal) testosterone.
  10. Josephs RA Sellers JG Newman ML Mehta PH The mismatch effect: when testosterone and status are at odds. [Randomized Controlled Trial Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.] J Pers Soc Psychol 2006 90 6 999 1013 16784348
  11. Karatsoreos IN Butler MP Lesauter J Silver R Androgens modulate structure and function of the suprachiasmatic nucleus brain clock. [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Endocrinology 2011 152 5 1970 1978 21363939 PMC3075936
  12. Ladouceur CD Peper JS Crone EA Dahl RE White matter development in adolescence: the influence of puberty and implications for affective disorders. [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Dev Cogn Neurosci 2012 2 1 36 54 22247751 PMC3256931
  13. McCarthy MM Arnold AP Reframing sexual differentiation of the brain. [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Review] Nat Neurosci 2011 14 6 677 683 21613996 PMC3165173
  14. Montoya ER Terburg D Bos PA van Honk J Testosterone, cortisol, and serotonin as key regulators of social aggression: A review and theoretical perspective Motiv Emot 2012 36 1 65 73 22448079 PMC3294220
  15. Navarro VM Tena-Sempere M Neuroendocrine control by kisspeptins: role in metabolic regulation of fertility. [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Nat Rev Endocrinol 2012 8 1 40 53 21912400
  16. Peper JS Hulshoff Pol HE Crone EA van Honk J Sex steroids and brain structure in pubertal boys and girls: a mini-review of neuroimaging studies Neuroscience 2011 191 28 37 21335066
  17. Quinlan MG Duncan A Loiselle C Graffe N Brake WG Latent inhibition is affected by phase of estrous cycle in female rats. [Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Brain Cogn 2010 74 3 244 248 20817338
  18. Rowe R Maughan B Worthman CM Costello EJ Angold A Testosterone, antisocial behavior, and social dominance in boys: pubertal development and biosocial interaction. [Clinical Trial Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.] Biol Psychiatry 2004 55 5 546 552 15023584
  19. Shirtcliff EA Dahl RE Pollak SD Pubertal development: correspondence between hormonal and physical development. [Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural] Child Dev 2009 80 2 327 337 19466995 PMC2727719 A thorough methodological paper, discussing various ways to quantify pubertal development in humans, each with its pro’s and con’s.
  20. Vaillancourt T deCatanzaro D Duku E Muir C Androgen dynamics in the context of children's peer relations: an examination of the links between testosterone and peer victimization. [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Aggress Behav 2009 35 1 103 113 19021234
  21. van Bokhoven I van Goozen SH van Engeland H Schaal B Arseneault L Seguin JR Tremblay RE Salivary testosterone and aggression, delinquency, and social dominance in a population-based longitudinal study of adolescent males. [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Horm Behav 2006 50 1 118 125 16631757
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  24. Yu YZ Shi JX Relationship between levels of testosterone and cortisol in saliva and aggressive behaviors of adolescents. [Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't] Biomed Environ Sci 2009 22 1 44 49 19462687
  25. Zahn R Moll J Krueger F Huey ED Garrido G Grafman J Social concepts are represented in the superior anterior temporal cortex PNAS 2007 104 15 6430 6435 17404215 PMC1851074

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Peper, J. S., & Dahl, R. E.
Affiliations
  • Leiden University (NL)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Dahl, Ronald E.
ORCID
Venue
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2013-04
Volume
22
Issue
2
Pages
134-139
ISSN
  • 0963-7214 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-8721
DOI
10.1177/0963721412473755
PMC
PMC4539143
OpenAlex
W1973688510
Cited by
284
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 30 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 27 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 5
FWCI
23.42
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • Current Directions in Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (451-10-007)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (P50MH080215)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD057893)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Hypothalamic control of reproductive hormones
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
Keywords
puberty, adolescent behavior, gonadal hormones, brain-behavior relationship, social-emotional development, transition from childhood to adolescence

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