Heed lessons from past studies involving transgender people: first, do no harm

Abstract

Over the past few decades, neuroscientists, endocrinologists, geneticists and social scientists have conducted numerous studies involving transgender people, meaning those whose gender identity does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth. Justifications for doing such research have shifted over the years and, today, investigators are increasingly focused on assessments of transgender people's mental health or the impact of hormone therapies.But such work raises challenges. Despite researchers' best intentions, these studies can perpetuate stigmas and make it even harder for transgender people to access appropriate medical care.Here we focus on neuroscientific approaches to the study of transgender identity to explore how investigators might navigate these concerns. Brain scanningIn 1995, neuroscientists at the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research in Amsterdam published findings from a post-mortem study, Decades of neuroscientific work have focused on exploring a biological basis for transgender identitybut researchers must take societal factors into account.