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Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction.It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles in a male.
[1] [2] This includes the embryological development of the primary male sex organs, and the development of male secondary sex characteristics at puberty. Androgens are synthesized in the testes, the ovaries, and the adrenal glands. Androgens increase in both males and females during puberty. [3] The major androgen in males is testosterone. [4]
During puberty, the hormone is responsible for deepening your voice, helping you grow body hair, increasing the size of your muscles and bones, and regulating your drive.
Hormones play an organizational role, priming the body to behave in a certain way once puberty begins, [16] and an active role, referring to changes in hormones during adolescence that trigger behavioral and physical changes. [17]
These hormone levels also control the uterine (menstrual) cycle causing the proliferation phase in preparation for ovulation, the secretory phase after ovulation, and menstruation when conception does not occur. The activation of the HPG axis in both males and females during puberty also causes individuals to acquire secondary sex characteristics.
Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone and androgen in males. [3] In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as testicles and prostate, as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristics such as increased muscle and bone mass, and the growth of body hair.
As puberty begins and sex hormone levels rise, differences appear, though some changes are similar in males and females. Male levels of testosterone directly induce the growth of the genitals, and indirectly (via dihydrotestosterone (DHT)) the prostate. Estradiol and other hormones cause breasts to develop in females.
The androgen backdoor route is activated during normal prenatal development and leads to early male sexual differentiation. [ 5 ] [ 9 ] [ 10 ] Dihydrotestosterone synthesized by this route plays a critical role in the development of male sexual characteristics, including the differentiation and maturation of the male external genitalia, the ...