A Multi-Modal MRI Analysis of Cortical Structure in Relation to Gender Dysphoria, Sexual Orientation, and Age in Adolescents

Skorska, Malvina N.; Chavez, Sofia; Devenyi, Gabriel A.; Thurston, Lindsey T.; Lai, Meng‐Chuan; Zucker, Kenneth J.; Chakravarty, M. Mallar; Lobaugh, Nancy J.; VanderLaan, Doug P.

doi:10.3390/jcm10020345

Cited by 21 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…Ideally, those samples will be larger in size and include both transgender women and transgender men. Moreover, given that sexual orientation has been reported to affect brain anatomy [ 20 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 ], future studies might consider stratifying their transgender group(s), as well as their cisgender groups according to whether people are attracted to men, women, or both.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity

Kurth

Gaser

Sánchez

et al. 2022

JCM

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Transgender people report discomfort with their birth sex and a strong identification with the opposite sex. The current study was designed to shed further light on the question of whether the brains of transgender people resemble their birth sex or their gender identity. For this purpose, we analyzed a sample of 24 cisgender men, 24 cisgender women, and 24 transgender women before gender-affirming hormone therapy. We employed a recently developed multivariate classifier that yields a continuous probabilistic (rather than a binary) estimate for brains to be male or female. The brains of transgender women ranged between cisgender men and cisgender women (albeit still closer to cisgender men), and the differences to both cisgender men and to cisgender women were significant (p = 0.016 and p < 0.001, respectively). These findings add support to the notion that the underlying brain anatomy in transgender people is shifted away from their biological sex towards their gender identity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity

Kurth

Gaser

Sánchez

et al. 2022

JCM

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show abstract

“…Second, the menstrual cycle of cis women and trans men was not accounted as a variable of interest, while there is growing evidence of functional dynamic differences between the phases of the menstrual cycle (De Filippi et al, 2021 ). Likewise, the sexual orientation of all participants was not systematically assessed as a variable of interest (Frigerio et al, 2021 ; Guillamon et al, 2016 ; Skorska et al, 2021 ). Including minority gender groups when investigating the gender phenomenon in the brain is imperative to understand the complexity of the gender experience.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whole‐brain dynamics differentiate among cisgender and transgender individuals

Uribe

Escrichs

Filippi

et al. 2022

Human Brain Mapping

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How the brain represents gender identity is largely unknown, but some neural differences have recently been discovered. We used an intrinsic ignition framework to investigate whether there are gender differences in the propagation of neural activity across the whole‐brain and within resting‐state networks. Studying 29 trans men and 17 trans women with gender incongruence, 22 cis women, and 19 cis men, we computed the capability of a given brain area in space to propagate activity to other areas (mean‐ignition), and the variability across time for each brain area (node‐metastability). We found that both measurements differentiated all groups across the whole brain. At the network level, we found that compared to the other groups, cis men showed higher mean‐ignition of the dorsal attention network and node‐metastability of the dorsal and ventral attention, executive control, and temporal parietal networks. We also found higher mean‐ignition values in cis men than in cis women within the executive control network, but higher mean‐ignition in cis women than cis men and trans men for the default mode. Node‐metastability was higher in cis men than cis women in the somatomotor network, while both mean‐ignition and node‐metastability were higher for cis men than trans men in the limbic network. Finally, we computed correlations between these measurements and a body image satisfaction score. Trans men's dissatisfaction as well as cis men's and cis women's satisfaction toward their own body image were distinctively associated with specific networks in each group. Overall, the study of the whole‐brain network dynamical complexity discriminates gender identity groups, functional dynamic approaches could help disentangle the complex nature of the gender dimension in the brain.

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“…There are studies showing that the anatomical structures of females and males brain are different in both structural and hormonal aspects, and in this review, the focus will be on the hormonal and genetic aspects [15]. There is hypothesis mentioning that individuals who experience gender incongruence have a brain structure resembling the sex that they are discerned to be [5].…”

Section: A Sex-determining Genes Of the Human Brainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gene Variants and Epigenetics That Lead to Gender Dysphoria

Buayam¹

2022

ijcsrr

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These days, the rate of gender dysphoria among transgender individuals has increased drastically. Gender dysphoria is a significant issue affecting every aspect of individuals’ daily activities. It induces significant stress and might eventually cause an impairment. Historically, the etiology of gender dysphoria solely focused on the anatomical aspect, mentioning that men’s and women’s brains are distinct. However, it is now believed to be multifactorial, and emerging researchers are trying to shed light on both brain structures and genes that might contribute to gender dysphoria. To explore the possible etiologies of gender dysphoria, this paper reviews the evidence of how epigenetics contributes to gender dysphoria. The basis includes the role of sex-determining genes, anatomical differences among various populations, epigenetics, and mutation of the RYR3 gene. Epigenetics focuses solely on CpGs methylation. Thus far, these mechanisms could not wholly explain the exact mechanism causing gender dysphoria; therefore, additional research is required to disclose this information. Ultimately, understanding the mechanism of gender dysphoria will promote a better quality of life for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria.

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A Multi-Modal MRI Analysis of Cortical Structure in Relation to Gender Dysphoria, Sexual Orientation, and Age in Adolescents

Cited by 21 publications

References 100 publications

Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity

Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity

Whole‐brain dynamics differentiate among cisgender and transgender individuals

Gene Variants and Epigenetics That Lead to Gender Dysphoria

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