Scientists have caught a glimpse of what they call the "pilot light of reproduction," identifying for the first time a gene that plays a role in triggering puberty.
Our data suggest the balance between GABA and glutamate function intrinsic to the MePD is crucial in triggering puberty onset because their antagonism advances and delays puberty, respectively.
It also provides the necessary basis to further investigate the hormonal and molecular networks that trigger puberty and annual testicular recrudescence in seasonally breeding species.
Leptin levels, which are thought to reflect body composition and are best predicted by BMI (Charmandari et al. 2002), rise with age before puberty, suggesting that a threshold effect may trigger puberty (Ong et al. 1999).
In addition, ample research suggests that exposure to stressful environmental conditions, particularly within the family realm, confers risk for earlier pubertal development [ 14] ostensibly by influencing hormonal pathways that trigger puberty [ 19].
Scientists knew that the hormone was expressed in the brain regions involved in triggering puberty--and that it is expressed differently in males and females--but whether the hormone is a direct "on" switch or plays a more subtle role is not yet clear, he says.
The role of these genes in reproduction may be due to the neuronal activity in the hypothalamus-pituitary axis, responsible for initiating the hormone cascade that is a trigger for puberty followed by the initiation of the estrous cycle in females [ 42].
It is probably not the trigger for puberty.
However, it is not clear precisely why an absent or emotionally unengaged father should trigger earlier puberty.
Of course, these heightened emotions are often triggered by puberty or by new experiences or by ignorance of everything that life has to offer.
