Elsevier

Neuroscience

Volume 191, 15 September 2011, Pages 28-37
Neuroscience

Neuroimaging
Review
Sex steroids and brain structure in pubertal boys and girls: a mini-review of neuroimaging studies

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.02.014Get rights and content

Abstract

Puberty is an important period during development hallmarked by increases in sex steroid levels. Human neuroimaging studies have consistently reported that in typically developing pubertal children, cortical and subcortical gray matter is decreasing, whereas white matter increases well into adulthood. From animal studies it has become clear that sex steroids are capable of influencing brain organization, both during the prenatal period as well as during other periods characterized by massive sex steroid changes such as puberty. Here we review structural neuroimaging studies and show that the changes in sex steroids availability during puberty and adolescence might trigger a period of structural reorganization of grey and white matter in the developing human brain.

This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Neuroactive Steroids: Focus on Human Brain.

Highlights

▶Testosterone in boys predicts white matter growth in the cerebrum. ▶Estradiol and testosterone in girls are related to gray matter decreases. ▶Steroid-linked genes play an important role in human pubertal brain development. ▶Brain pathways involved in emotional processing develop along with pubertal maturation.

Section snippets

Experimental procedures

A PubMed indexed search was carried out with a limitation of human studies using the following keywords: (sex steroids) OR (gonadal hormones) OR (testosterone) OR (estradiol) OR (progesterone) AND (white matter) OR (gray matter) OR (brain development) OR (myelin). Only papers written in English were included, as well as studies using direct measures of sex hormonal levels (e.g. no sex differences). Case studies or qualitative studies were excluded, as well as studies on sex chromosomal or

Gray matter

MRI-based gray matter is assumed to be comprised of neuronal cell bodies, dendrites, non-myelinated axons, and glial cells. Although the trajectory of change varies across brain regions, there is increasing consensus on the overall pattern of gray matter development over the course of childhood and adolescence: in childhood a global increase of cortical and subcortical gray matter volume takes place, peaking around the onset of puberty, which is then followed by a gradual decrease in

Discussion

We reviewed associations between sex steroids and brain structure in pubertal boys and girls, measured with neuroimaging. Overall, testosterone, estradiol as well as their precursor LH were associated with dynamic brain changes in this period. In particular, typical gray matter decreases in prefrontal, parietal, and temporal cortices taking place during puberty and adolescence (Giedd et al., 1999, Sowell et al., 2002; Gogtay et al., 2004, Bramen et al., 2011, Ziermans et al., in press), were

Conclusion

It can be concluded that the changes in sex steroids availability during puberty and adolescence might be involved in triggering a period of structural reorganization of grey and white matter in the developing human brain. Although causal conclusions cannot be drawn from human studies, it can be acknowledged that studying the contribution of sex steroids to the dynamically changing brain during puberty and adolescence is an exciting new field of research. It can provide us with important

Acknowledgements

Jiska S. Peper is supported by an Innovational Research Grant (VENI 451-10-007) from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). Jack van Honk is supported by grants from the Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF) and from the Utrecht University High-Potential programme. These funding sources were not involved in preparation of the article, in writing of the report and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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