Effects of androgenization on the white matter microstructure of female-to-male transsexuals. A diffusion tensor imaging study

Rametti, Giuseppina; Carrillo, Beatriz; Gómez‐Gil, Esther; Junqué, Carme; Zubiaurre‐Elorza, Leire; Segovia, Santiago; Gómez, Ángel; Karádi, Kázmér; Guillamón, Antonio

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.12.019

Cited by 72 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The effects of testosterone treatment on white matter microstructure were also studied in FtM (Rametti et al, 2012). After seven months of treatment, FA values increased in two fascicles compared to pre-treatment values.…”

Section: Effects Of Cross-sex Hormone Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroimaging studies in people with gender incongruence

Kreukels

Guillamón

2016

International Review of Psychiatry

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The current review gives an overview of brain studies in transgender people. First, we describe studies into the aetiology of feelings of gender incongruence, primarily addressing the sexual differentiation hypothesis: does the brain of transgender individuals resemble that of their natal sex, or that of their experienced gender? Findings from neuroimaging studies focusing on brain structure suggest that the brain phenotypes of trans women (MtF) and trans men (FtM) differ in various ways from control men and women with feminine, masculine, demasculinized and defeminized features. The brain phenotypes of people with feelings of gender incongruence may help us to figure out whether sex differentiation of the brain is atypical in these individuals, and shed light on gender identity development. Task-related imaging studies may show whether brain activation and task performance in transgender people is sex-atypical. Second, we review studies that evaluate the effects of cross-sex hormone treatment on the brain. This type of research provides knowledge on how changes in sex hormone levels may affect brain structure and function.ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Effects Of Cross-sex Hormone Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neuroimaging studies in people with gender incongruence

Kreukels

Guillamón

2016

International Review of Psychiatry

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“…Apparently, rising levels of testosterone contributed to a decrease in white matter in male adolescents. Treatment of female and male transexuals with hormones was shown to provoke changes in neuroanatomy (Rametti et al, 2012;Zubiaurre-Elorza et al, 2014).…”

Section: Epigenetics Genomic Imprinting and Hormones Can Cause Sexuamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual selection and the evolution of behavior, morphology, neuroanatomy and genes in humans and other primates

Stanyon

Bigoni

2014

Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews

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“…However, in vivo results of studies using structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are more diverse, ranging from no structural differences between men and male‐to‐female GD individuals (MtFs) (Savic & Arver, 2011), differences between MtFs and men and women (Luders et al., 2009), to an intermediate position for hormonally untreated MtFs between male and female brains (Rametti et al., 2011). Female‐like structures in female‐to‐male GD individuals before hormonal treatment (FtMs) (Rametti et al., 2010) and structural changes through hormonal treatment (Rametti et al., 2012) have also been observed. Functional MRI (fMRI) studies provide a similarly complex pattern with activation similarities between GD individuals and their aspired gender (Carrillo et al., 2010; Gizewski et al., 2009; Schoning et al., 2010; Sommer et al., 2008; Ye et al., 2011) in several tasks sensitive to sex and/or gender differences in neural activity (Lykins, Meana, & Strauss, 2008; Semrud‐Clikeman, Fine, Bledsoe, & Zhu, 2012; Thomsen et al., 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks

et al. 2017

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IntroductionRecent research found gender‐related differences in resting‐state functional connectivity (rs‐FC) measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies examining the differences in rs‐FC between men, women, and individuals who report a discrepancy between their anatomical sex and their gender identity, i.e. gender dysphoria (GD).MethodsTo address this important issue, we present the first fMRI study systematically investigating the differences in typical resting‐state networks (RSNs) and hormonal treatment effects in 26 male‐to‐female GD individuals (MtFs) compared with 19 men and 20 women.ResultsDifferences between male and female control groups were found only in the auditory RSN, whereas differences between both control groups and MtFs were found in the auditory and fronto‐parietal RSNs, including both primary sensory areas (e.g. calcarine gyrus) and higher order cognitive areas such as the middle and posterior cingulate and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Overall, differences in MtFs compared with men and women were more pronounced before cross‐sex hormonal treatment. Interestingly, rs‐FC between MtFs and women did not differ significantly after treatment. When comparing hormonally untreated and treated MtFs, we found differences in connectivity of the calcarine gyrus and thalamus in the context of the auditory network, as well as the inferior frontal gyrus in context of the fronto‐parietal network.ConclusionOur results provide first evidence that MtFs exhibit patterns of rs‐FC which are different from both their assigned and their aspired gender, indicating an intermediate position between the two sexes. We suggest that the present study constitutes a starting point for future research designed to clarify whether the brains of individuals with GD are more similar to their assigned or their aspired gender.

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Effects of androgenization on the white matter microstructure of female-to-male transsexuals. A diffusion tensor imaging study

Cited by 72 publications

References 63 publications

Neuroimaging studies in people with gender incongruence

Neuroimaging studies in people with gender incongruence

Sexual selection and the evolution of behavior, morphology, neuroanatomy and genes in humans and other primates

Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks

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