The Teenage Brain

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.