The impact of female sex hormones on neurodevelopment

该项目旨在描述性激素对女性青少年情感脑回路发展的贡献。青春期与女性情绪行为的深刻变化有关，但我们对潜在的大脑机制知之甚少。特别是，研究忽视了性激素的作用，而性激素的变化是女性青春期的一个决定性特征（例如雌二醇）。这项工作将首次全面推进我们对性激素在塑造青春期女性大脑中的独特作用的理解。它将提供对荷尔蒙因素的个体差异如何增加女性情绪问题风险的关键理解，并为治疗策略提供信息。

This project aims to characterise the contribution of sex hormones to the development of emotional brain circuits in female adolescents. Puberty is associated with profound changes in emotional behaviours in females, but we know little about the underlying brain mechanisms. In particular, research has neglected to consider the role of the sex hormones for which changes are a defining feature of female puberty (eg, oestradiol). This work will be the first to comprehensively advance our understanding of the unique role of sex hormones in shaping the adolescent female brain. It will provide critical understanding of how individual differences in hormonal factors increase risk for emotional problems in females, and inform treatment strategies.