Lecture 2 Flashcards
What is puberty
- transition to adulthood
- sexual maturation
What are the 3 key characteristics of puberty?
- Rapid physical growth
- Changes in primary sex characteristics
- Development of secondary sex characteristics
What is the endocrine system
responsible for the production, circulation and regulation or hormones
What are hormones
substances produced by endocrine glands
What is the gonadotropin releasing neuron
neurons implicated in pubertal development -> activated by pubertal hormones
What is the hormonal feedback loop
- process in which endocrine system regulates hormone levels
- hormonal thermostat
- set points
What is the HPG axis
- increasingly important at the start of puberty
- early development of HPG
- 3 primary structures of HPG
What is the pituitary gland?
- controls hormone levels
What is the hypothalamus
controls pituitary gland and GnRH neurons
What are the gonads
- release sex hormones
- testes and ovaries
- androgens and estrogens
What is adrenarche?
- maturation of the adrenal glands during adolescence
What is physical development of adrenarche
- secretion of hormone that stimulates physical growth
What is the stress response of adrenarche
- hormonal changes during puberty promote greater stress responsively
- production of cortisol
How does the HPG axis trigger puberty
- HPG axis has a puberty alarm
- early dormancy
What are some biological signals linked to pubertal onset
- kisspeptin
- leptin
- melatonin
What is kisspeptin
- thought to trigger the start of puberty
- production influenced by both melatonin and leptin
What is leptin?
- protein produced by fat cells
- regulates hunger and appetite
What is melatonin
- hormone that regulates the sleep cycle
- promotes the sensation of tiredness
How does gene, fat and light exposure affect puberty
- pubertal timing primarily dictated by genes
- increase in body fat -> earlier pubertal onset
- increased light exposure -> earlier pubertal onset
What is the evolutionary perspective of puberty
Resource Scarcity: Goal-> produce offspring
- optimal fat and resource availability -> signal start of puberty
Influence of Technology: electronics and artificial light
Evolution vs Modern Day: Adaptive Mismatch: evolutionary development = slow
How are hormones involved in early brain development
early brain organization -> later behaviour
What are prenatal vs pubertal influences
- sex differences in aggression
- the great puberty fallacy
What are some changes that occur due to puberty
- increased emotional arousal
- risk/reward
What is the adolescent growth spurt
- rapid growth in height and weight during puberty
What is peak height velocity
- growth rate is the same as a toddler
- Boys grow about 4 inches a year
Girls grow 3.5 inches a year
What is epiphysis
- closing of ends of bones
- marks end of puberty
What are Tanner Stages
- sexual maturity rating
- classification system to track sexual maturing during puberty
- Screening/evaluation done by healthcare workers
What are gene-environment influences on pubertal timing
- genetic and environmental influences implicated in differences of pubertal timing
How can family affect pubertal timing
family structure and conflict; due to stress
How are group differences in maturation
- population differences in rate/timing of puberty likely reflective of environmental differences
- comparisons of average age of menarche most informative measure for cross comparison
Is early maturation a cause for concern
- average age of puberty continues to decline
- sensation seeking behaviours increase
How is self regulation impacted by puberty
- brain systems that are involved in self regulation are less impacted by puberty -> timing is not impacted
