impulse-control domains, the more rapid thinning of this brain region suggests earlier maturation in the girls. This longitudinal study of changes cortical thickness in adolescents showed that the AR gene contributes to sexual dimorphism during brain development. Additionally, manipulation of androgens early in life may have functional consequences on cortical function. For example, object discrimination, a task associated with the prefrontal cortex, is performed better in normal adolescent males and androgen-exposed females relative to unexposed normal females (Clark and Goldman-Rakic 1989). In contrast, pubertal increases in sex hormone levels attenuated pre-pulse inhibition (Morris et al. 2010).
