Abstract
The symposium on ‘The Adolescent Brain Development and Behaviour’ was organized in honor of the 40th anniversary of Youthdale Treatment Clinics in Toronto. The idea for a symposium dedicated to the adolescent brain was conceived over a year ago and was stimulated by recent rapid progress in neurobiological research focused on this developmental period. Puberty is a time of dramatic physiological, cognitive and emotional changes associated with increased risk for psychiatric disorders as well as increased risk-taking behavior. The increase in risk for psychiatric disorders may be a function of biological changes in gonadal hormones, or may result from increased emotional stress, or an interaction of these factors. Brain structures show dramatic changes in myelination, synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning from late childhood to early adolescence. Learning and experience probably interact with the biologically programmed developmental influences modifying synaptic connections and region-specific structure and function. Adolescence presents significant challenges and also unique opportunities for intervention regarding psychiatric and behavioral disorders.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The Ontario Mental Health Foundation (OMHF) generously provided a conference grant in support of this program. We gratefully acknowledge the support in the form of unrestricted educational grants from RBC Canada, Janssen-Ortho Inc., Purdue and Shire BioChem Inc. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.