Coming of Age

Abstract

The purpose of this book is to explore the neurobiology and psychobiology underlying puberty and adolescence. It tells the story of how contemporary neuroscience has come to make significant contributions to the understanding of a developmental period that used to be the sole purview of developmental psychologists and pediatric endocrinologists. The authors presume the reader will have a general understanding of the basic principles of neuroscience and psychology and have written this book to serve as an appropriate text for an upper-level undergraduate seminar or graduate course designed to probe puberty and adolescence more deeply from a psychobiological perspective. Topics covered in specific chapters include timing and regulation of reproductive maturation (puberty), mechanisms of adolescent brain development in laboratory animals and humans, neural underpinnings of higher risk-taking and impulsive behavior in adolescents, hormonal programming of social behaviors during adolescence, and effects of stress and drugs on the adolescent brain. The book ends with the authors’ perspective on some of the big questions about the adolescent brain and behavior that remain to be answered.