The advent of sexual maturation is one of the most remarkable events in the life span of an individual. In both humans and lower species the attainment of puberty signals sexual availability, but in even the most primitive cultures puberty also represents the end of absolute parental dependence and the initiation of greater (and not necessarily welcomed) social responsibilities.

The ancients were fascinated, as we are, by the somatic changes associated with sexual development but were not particularly attentive to the psychological manifestations of the process. Nowadays this is recognized as important, but in contrast to the somatic changes, little if anything is known about the influence that hormones may have in shaping and/or initiating pubertal psychological and behavioral shifts. Strong morphological, biochemical, and molecular evidence now exists, indicating that steroid hormones of gonadal and adrenal origin are recognized by spe-cific receptor molecules in discrete brain areas, thereby affecting neu-ronal function in various manners. Thus, it would not be unreasonable