From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Puberty refers to the process of physical changes by which a
child's
body becomes an
adult body capable of
reproduction. Puberty is initiated by
hormone signals from the brain to the
gonads (the
ovaries and
testes). In response, the gonads produce a variety of hormones that stimulate the growth, function, or transformation of
brain,
bones,
muscle,
skin,
breasts, and
reproductive organs.
Growth accelerates in the first half of puberty and reaches completion by the end. Before puberty, body differences between boys and girls are almost entirely restricted to the
genitalia. During puberty major differences of size, shape, composition, and function develop in many body structures and systems. The most obvious of these are referred to as
secondary sex characteristics.
