The influence of puberty on subcortical brain development

TLDR

Puberty involves hormonal, physical, and psychological changes, and while brain development continues from childhood to adulthood, the specific impact of puberty on structural brain changes remains poorly understood. The study aimed to investigate how puberty relates to changes in subcortical brain regions using longitudinal MRI data from 275 youths aged 7–20. The analysis focused on the amygdala, hippocampus, and striatal nuclei (nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen, globus pallidus) measured across the scans. Puberty was significantly associated with volumetric changes in all six subcortical regions, with both independent and interactive effects of age and puberty on the amygdala, hippocampus, putamen, and striatal nuclei, underscoring puberty’s substantial role in structural brain development.

Abstract

Puberty is characterized by hormonal, physical and psychological transformation. The human brain undergoes significant changes between childhood and adulthood, but little is known about how puberty influences its structural development. Using a longitudinal sample of 711 magnetic resonance imaging scans from 275 individuals aged 7–20 years, we examined how subcortical brain regions change in relation to puberty. Our regions of interest included the amygdala, hippocampus and corpus striatum including the nucleus accumbens (NA), caudate, putamen and globus pallidus (GP). Pubertal development was significantly related to structural volume in all six regions in both sexes. Pubertal development and age had both independent and interactive influences on volume for the amygdala, hippocampus and putamen in both sexes, and the caudate in females. There was an interactive puberty-by-age effect on volume for the NA and GP in both sexes, and the caudate in males. These findings suggest a significant role for puberty in structural brain development.