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Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction.It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles in a male.
Physical growth—height and weight—accelerates in the first half of puberty and is completed when an adult body has been developed. Until the maturation of their reproductive capabilities, the pre-pubertal physical differences between boys and girls are the external sex organs.
Despite some genetic sex differences, environmental factors play a large role in biological changes during adolescence. For example, girls tend to reduce their physical activity in preadolescence [43] [44] and may receive inadequate nutrition from diets that often lack important nutrients, such as iron. [45]
Sexual arousal causes various physical responses, most significantly in the sex organs (genital organs). Sexual arousal for a man is usually indicated by the swelling and erection of the penis when blood fills the corpus cavernosum. This is usually the most prominent and reliable sign of sexual arousal in males.
Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce.In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. [1] Puberty is the biological process of sexual maturation, while adulthood, the condition of being socially recognized as an independent person capable of giving consent and taking responsibility, generally implies sexual maturity (certain disorders of sexual development ...
The zygote contains the combined genetic material carried by both the male and female gametes which consists of the 23 chromosomes from the nucleus of the ovum and the 23 chromosomes from the nucleus of the sperm. The 46 chromosomes undergo changes prior to the mitotic division which leads to the formation of the embryo having two cells.
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During preadolescence (early adolescence), individuals may become more preoccupied with body image and privacy, corresponding to physical changes seen during adrenarche and puberty. Early adolescents may become aware of their sexuality for the first time, and experience attraction towards others. [ 46 ]