Why your brain might never recover from early puberty

Talk Description
Over the past century, the age of puberty has fallen dramatically. In girls, early puberty is now one of the strongest predictors of developing depression, anxiety, or an eating disorder. The link has long been noticed but poorly understood.

Morgan James has a new answer: early puberty may actually change how the brain is wired. His research points to lasting changes in the systems controlling sleep, motivation, and mood. It may explain why the mental health issues so many young people experience persist long after puberty has ended.

Speaker
Morgan James leads a translational neuroscience lab at the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney, where his research examines the neural basis of psychiatric disorders characterised by dysregulated motivation, including addictions, eating disorders, and depression. He runs an active drug discovery program that provides a direct pipeline from lab findings to potential treatments. Until December 2024, he held the position of Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers in New Jersey, the largest multidisciplinary addiction research site in the US, where he remains an Adjunct Professor.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Raising the Bar