Neurokinin B switches on puberty, causing the hormonal surge behind the angst and anger of adolescence, a Cambridge University study has found. More knowledge of the hormone could lead to new contraceptives as well as treatments for diseases fuelled by sex hormones, such as prostate cancer. Researcher Prof Steve O'Rahilly said: "This unexpected finding puts one more important piece in the unfinished jigsaw puzzle that is our understanding of puberty." Analysis of the DNA of Turkish families with members who did not go through puberty, published in Nature Genetics, flagged neurokinin B's key role. Neurokinin B has been linked to puberty in animals, but it had been assumed its main role lay elsewhere. Now it appears it is key to the awkwardness of adolescence. Other research has shown that the teenage brain, not yet fully developed, cannot consider how actions will affect others - leading to teens being perceived as sullen, selfish and thoughtless. They also find it harder to put themselves in others' shoes. Moodiness might be partly explained by differences in biological clocks, which leave them in a permanent state of jetlag.
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