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

INTRODUCTION: Recent 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 repo...

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Autores principales: Clemens, Benjamin, Junger, Jessica, Pauly, Katharina, Neulen, Josef, Neuschaefer‐Rube, Christiane, Frölich, Dirk, Mingoia, Gianluca, Derntl, Birgit, Habel, Ute
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5434195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28523232
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/brb3.691
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author Clemens, Benjamin
Junger, Jessica
Pauly, Katharina
Neulen, Josef
Neuschaefer‐Rube, Christiane
Frölich, Dirk
Mingoia, Gianluca
Derntl, Birgit
Habel, Ute
author_facet Clemens, Benjamin
Junger, Jessica
Pauly, Katharina
Neulen, Josef
Neuschaefer‐Rube, Christiane
Frölich, Dirk
Mingoia, Gianluca
Derntl, Birgit
Habel, Ute
author_sort Clemens, Benjamin
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Recent 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). METHODS: To 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. RESULTS: Differences 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. CONCLUSION: Our 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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spelling pubmed-54341952017-05-18 Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks Clemens, Benjamin Junger, Jessica Pauly, Katharina Neulen, Josef Neuschaefer‐Rube, Christiane Frölich, Dirk Mingoia, Gianluca Derntl, Birgit Habel, Ute Brain Behav Original Research INTRODUCTION: Recent 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). METHODS: To 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. RESULTS: Differences 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. CONCLUSION: Our 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. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2017-04-05 /pmc/articles/PMC5434195/ /pubmed/28523232 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/brb3.691 Text en © 2017 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Research
Clemens, Benjamin
Junger, Jessica
Pauly, Katharina
Neulen, Josef
Neuschaefer‐Rube, Christiane
Frölich, Dirk
Mingoia, Gianluca
Derntl, Birgit
Habel, Ute
Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
title Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
title_full Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
title_fullStr Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
title_full_unstemmed Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
title_short Male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: Gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
title_sort male‐to‐female gender dysphoria: gender‐specific differences in resting‐state networks
topic Original Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5434195/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28523232
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/brb3.691
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