Trans men show unusual connectivity patterns in brain networks involved in self perception

Photographic stimuli from the “body morph” task that was used in the new research By Christian Jarrett Most brain imaging studies involving transexuals or people with gender dysphoria have focused on whether their brains look more like what’s typical for the gender they identify with, rather than the gender they were born with. For example, whether trans men have “masculine” brains, and trans women have more “feminine” brains. The results have been mixed and if anything point towards trans people having brains with distinct features that are neither stereotypically male or female. A new study in Brain Imaging and Behaviour adds to this trend, showing that trans men have unusual patterns of connectivity in brain networks involved in processing of the self, as compared with male and female controls. “The present data do not support the hypothesis that sexual differentiation of the brain of individuals with gender dysphoria is in the opposite direction as their sex assigned at birth,” the researchers said, adding that the unusual connectivity patterns they found in trans men “was detected in comparison with both male and female controls, and there were no differences between the control groups”. The research team led by Jamie Feusner at University of California, Los Angeles, scanned the brains of 27 trans men (whom they refer to as female-to-male persons with gender dysphoria) recruited via a gender dysphoria cli...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: biological Brain Gender Sex Source Type: blogs