A longitudinal study: the influence of sex and puberty on neurodevelopment

描述（由申请人提供）：青春期是神经发育的重要时期，也是精神病理开始以性别特异性方式出现的时期。了解影响典型大脑发育和精神病理易感性的因素对我们来说是至关重要的。迄今为止，对大脑组织和结构的研究主要是在年龄的发展背景下进行的。然而，最近的研究表明，青春期可能对女孩和男孩的神经成熟时间有独特的影响，并且可能潜在地导致青春期出现的精神健康问题的发展。然而，大多数研究的结论由于其横断面研究设计而受到限制。当前项目的目标是更加充分

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Adolescence is a time period of significant neurodevelopment, and is also a time when psychopathology begins to emerge in a sex-specific fashion. It is essential for us to understand what factors influence typical brain development and vulnerability for psychopathology. To date, research on brain organization and structure have been primarily studied in the developmental context of age. Recent research, however, suggests that puberty may uniquely contribute to the timing of neuromaturation differently in girls and boys, and may potentially contribute to the development of mental health problems that materialize during adolescence. However, the conclusions from the majority of these studies are limited due to their cross-sectional study design. The goal of the current project is to more fully characterize the influence of pubertal maturation, as measured by physical and hormonal assessments, on brain and mental health behaviors in typically developing girls and boys. Utilizing two independent longitudinal design datasets, the proposed study will use a multimodal approach, including structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging, to quantify the contributions of pubertal maturation in predicting changes in neurodevelopment within the same adolescents over an average of 2 years. Furthermore, the current study will examine if pubertal-related changes are distinct or similar depending on sex, and using behavioral self-reports, determine if individual differences in rates of pubertal-related brain maturation influence internalizing and externalizing behavior in typically developing adolescents. By improving our understanding of what role puberty plays in neurodevelopment, these experiments act as a novel and necessary first step toward determining if puberty's impact on neurodevelopment may help to explain the emergence of psychopathology in a sex-specific manner during adolescence.