Puberty Influences Medial Temporal Lobe and Cortical Gray Matter Maturation Differently in Boys Than Girls Matched for Sexual Maturity

Overview

Journal Cereb Cortex

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Neurology

Date 2010 Aug 18

PMID 20713504

Citations 130

Authors

Jennifer E Bramen

Jennifer A Hranilovich

Ronald E Dahl

Erika E Forbes

Jessica Chen

Arthur W Toga

Ivo D Dinov

Carol M Worthman

Elizabeth R Sowell

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Sex differences in age- and puberty-related maturation of human brain structure have been observed in typically developing age-matched boys and girls. Because girls mature 1-2 years earlier than boys, the present study aimed at assessing sex differences in brain structure by studying 80 adolescent boys and girls matched on sexual maturity, rather than age. We evaluated pubertal influences on medial temporal lobe (MTL), thalamic, caudate, and cortical gray matter volumes utilizing structural magnetic resonance imaging and 2 measures of pubertal status: physical sexual maturity and circulating testosterone. As predicted, significant interactions between sex and the effect of puberty were observed in regions with high sex steroid hormone receptor densities; sex differences in the right hippocampus, bilateral amygdala, and cortical gray matter were greater in more sexually mature adolescents. Within sex, we found larger volumes in MTL structures in more sexually mature boys, whereas smaller volumes were observed in more sexually mature girls. Our results demonstrate puberty-related maturation of the hippocampus, amygdala, and cortical gray matter that is not confounded by age, and is different for girls and boys, which may contribute to differences in social and cognitive development during adolescence, and lasting sexual dimorphisms in the adult brain.

Citing Articles

Protective and risk factors in daily life associated with cognitive decline of older adults.

Tong F, Yang H, Yu H, Sui L, Yao J, Shi C Front Aging Neurosci. 2025; 17:1496677.

PMID: 40078638 PMC: 11897038. DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2025.1496677.

Effects of early maternal care on anxiety and threat learning in adolescent nonhuman primates.

Morin E, Siebert E, Howell B, Higgins M, Jovanovic T, Kazama A Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2024; 71():101480.

PMID: 39642805 PMC: 11665541. DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101480.

Neuroanatomical alterations in young boys and adolescents with Klinefelter syndrome.

Foland-Ross L, Jordan T, Marzelli M, Ross J, Reiss A Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2024; 346:111929.

PMID: 39637706 PMC: 11706219. DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2024.111929.

Happy children! A network of psychological and environmental factors associated with the development of positive affect in 9-13 children.

Feraco T, Cona G PLoS One. 2024; 19(9):e0307560.

PMID: 39240900 PMC: 11379200. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307560.

Sex as a Determinant of Age-Related Changes in the Brain.

Burmistrov D, Gudkov S, Franceschi C, Vedunova M Int J Mol Sci. 2024; 25(13).

PMID: 39000227 PMC: 11241365. DOI: 10.3390/ijms25137122.

References

Marshall W, Tanner J . Growth and physiological development during adolescence. Annu Rev Med. 1968; 19:283-300. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.me.19.020168.001435. View

Ahmed E, Zehr J, Schulz K, Lorenz B, DonCarlos L, Sisk C . Pubertal hormones modulate the addition of new cells to sexually dimorphic brain regions. Nat Neurosci. 2009; 11(9):995-7. PMC: 2772186. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2178. View

Romeo R, Sisk C . Pubertal and seasonal plasticity in the amygdala. Brain Res. 2001; 889(1-2):71-7. DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(00)03111-5. View

Blakemore S, Choudhury S . Development of the adolescent brain: implications for executive function and social cognition. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2006; 47(3-4):296-312. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01611.x. View

Giedd J, Blumenthal J, Jeffries N, Castellanos F, Liu H, Zijdenbos A . Brain development during childhood and adolescence: a longitudinal MRI study. Nat Neurosci. 1999; 2(10):861-3. DOI: 10.1038/13158. View

Fischl B, van der Kouwe A, Destrieux C, Halgren E, Segonne F, Salat D . Automatically parcellating the human cerebral cortex. Cereb Cortex. 2003; 14(1):11-22. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhg087. View

Steinberg L . Cognitive and affective development in adolescence. Trends Cogn Sci. 2005; 9(2):69-74. DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2004.12.005. View

Giedd J, Vaituzis A, Hamburger S, Lange N, Rajapakse J, Kaysen D . Quantitative MRI of the temporal lobe, amygdala, and hippocampus in normal human development: ages 4-18 years. J Comp Neurol. 1996; 366(2):223-30. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9861(19960304)366:2<223::AID-CNE3>3.0.CO;2-7. View

Worthman C, Stallings J . Hormone measures in finger-prick blood spot samples: new field methods for reproductive endocrinology. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1997; 104(1):1-21. DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199709)104:1<1::AID-AJPA1>3.0.CO;2-V. View

10.

Lu L, Leonard C, Thompson P, Kan E, Jolley J, Welcome S . Normal developmental changes in inferior frontal gray matter are associated with improvement in phonological processing: a longitudinal MRI analysis. Cereb Cortex. 2006; 17(5):1092-9. DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhl019. View

11.

Sowell E, Thompson P, Leonard C, Welcome S, Kan E, Toga A . Longitudinal mapping of cortical thickness and brain growth in normal children. J Neurosci. 2004; 24(38):8223-31. PMC: 6729679. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1798-04.2004. View

12.

Sowell E, Thompson P, Toga A . Mapping changes in the human cortex throughout the span of life. Neuroscientist. 2004; 10(4):372-92. DOI: 10.1177/1073858404263960. View

13.

McGaugh J . The amygdala modulates the consolidation of memories of emotionally arousing experiences. Annu Rev Neurosci. 2004; 27:1-28. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144157. View

14.

Dinov I, Van Horn J, Lozev K, Magsipoc R, Petrosyan P, Liu Z . Efficient, Distributed and Interactive Neuroimaging Data Analysis Using the LONI Pipeline. Front Neuroinform. 2009; 3:22. PMC: 2718780. DOI: 10.3389/neuro.11.022.2009. View

15.

DAVIDSON , Irwin . The functional neuroanatomy of emotion and affective style. Trends Cogn Sci. 1999; 3(1):11-21. DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(98)01265-0. View

16.

NISHIZUKA M, Arai Y . Synapse formation in response to estrogen in the medial amygdala developing in the eye. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982; 79(22):7024-6. PMC: 347267. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.79.22.7024. View

17.

Rex D, Shattuck D, Woods R, Narr K, Luders E, Rehm K . A meta-algorithm for brain extraction in MRI. Neuroimage. 2004; 23(2):625-37. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.06.019. View

18.

NISHIZUKA M, Arai Y . Organizational action of estrogen on synaptic pattern in the amygdala: implications for sexual differentiation of the brain. Brain Res. 1981; 213(2):422-6. DOI: 10.1016/0006-8993(81)90247-x. View

19.

Dahl R . Adolescent development and the regulation of behavior and emotion: introduction to part VIII. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004; 1021:294-5. DOI: 10.1196/annals.1308.034. View

20.

Dahl R . Adolescent brain development: a period of vulnerabilities and opportunities. Keynote address. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2004; 1021:1-22. DOI: 10.1196/annals.1308.001. View