Investigating the Relationship between Puberty and Cognitive Brain Development

脑成像研究已经证明，在青春期，人类大脑的结构和功能会发生戏剧性的变化，并已经确定，其中某些变化，特别是涉及社会认知、自我意识和冒险的变化，与青春期重合。最近，我们对青少年大脑发育的了解取得了进展，在刑事责任和公共卫生政策等领域引发了强烈的兴趣和争议。目前尚不清楚这些大脑变化是否仅与年龄增长有关，还是与青春期的生物学变化有关。这个项目通过研究青少年的行为和表现，并使用结构和功能磁共振技术来调查青春期和大脑发育之间的关系。主要目标是：1.阐明青春期是否与社会认知和冒险任务中大脑结构和活动的变化有关，与年龄无关。我们将在两个人群中进行这项研究：1)42个典型的13岁发育青少年合并青春期早期和晚期II)21个15岁正常青春期延迟的个体的临床样本与21个青春期后年龄匹配的对照组。2.探讨青春期大脑表现、结构和功能活动的改变是否与危险行为和抑郁有关。

Brain imaging studies have demonstrated that dramatic changes in structure and function occur within the human brain during adolescence, and have established that certain of these changes, particularly those involved with social cognition, self-awareness and risk-taking, coincide with puberty. Recent advances in our understanding of adolescent brain development have driven intense interest and controversy in fields including criminal responsibility and public health policy. It is unclear whether these brain changes relate solely to advancing chronological age, or relate to the biological changes of puberty. This project investigates the relationship between puberty and brain development by studying adolescent behaviour and performance, and by using structural and functional MRI techniques. The key goals are: 1. To elucidate whether puberty is associated with changes in brain structure and activity during social cognition and risk-taking tasks, independently of age. We will do this in two populations i) 42 typically developing adolescents aged 13 incorporating early and late pubertal stages ii) a clinical sample of 21 individuals aged 15 with delayed normal puberty compared to 21 post-pubertal age-matched controls. 2. To investigate whether changes in brain performance, structure and functional activity are associated with risky behaviours and depression in adolescence.