Biological and Social Influences on the Endocrinology of Puberty: Some Additional Considerations
Abstract
Abstract The preceding chapters by Cameron and Hopwood address our cur rent level of understanding about the potential regulatory mechanisms of puberty. They cite endocrinological, environmental, and psychosocial variables that can stimulate or inhibit the pubertal process. With the advances in assay techniques and the prospective studies reported by Nottelman, Chrousos, and colleagues (Chapter 6), it is clear that our understanding of the pubertal process is significantly more sophisticated than it was even a few years ago. Although pulsatile patterns of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), beginning initially during sleep (see Chapters 1, Cameron: and 2, Hopwood), are believed to precede gonadal transition into reproductive functioning, we still have not determined what triggers the onset of puberty or, specifically, what stimulation occurs or what inhibition is lifted that initiates the onset of the pubertal GnRH pattern.