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The neural basis of puberty and adolescence

Nature Neuroscience volume 7, pages 1040–1047 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The pubertal transition to adulthood involves both gonadal and behavioral maturation. A developmental clock, along with permissive signals that provide information on somatic growth, energy balance and season, time the awakening of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons at the onset of puberty. High-frequency GnRH release results from disinhibition and activation of GnRH neurons at puberty onset, leading to gametogenesis and an increase in gonadal steroid hormone secretion. Steroid hormones, in turn, both remodel and activate neural circuits during adolescent brain development, leading to the development of sexual salience of sensory stimuli, sexual motivation, and expression of copulatory behaviors in specific social contexts. These influences of hormones on reproductive behavior depend in part on changes in the adolescent brain that occur independently of gonadal maturation. Reproductive maturity is therefore the product of developmentally timed, brain-driven and recurrent interactions between steroid hormones and the adolescent nervous system.

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Figure 1: GnRH neurons projecting to the median eminence direct pituitary gonadotropin and gonadal steroid hormone secretion.
Figure 2: Adolescent maturation of reproductive behavior requires remodeling and activation of neural circuits involved in salience of sexual stimuli and sensory associations, sexual motivation and sexual performance.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K. Salas-Ramirez, K. Schulz and J. Zehr for constructive comments.

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  1. Neuroscience Program and Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824, Michigan, USA

    Cheryl L Sisk

  2. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Reproductive Sciences Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109, Michigan, USA

    Douglas L Foster

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Correspondence to Cheryl L Sisk.

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Sisk, C., Foster, D. The neural basis of puberty and adolescence. Nat Neurosci 7, 1040–1047 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1326

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