Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Another part of the puzzle
Zoe Brain

http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2012/09/another-part-of-puzzle.html

Increased Cortical Thickness in Male-to-Female Transsexualism Luders et al, Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science, 2011

Abstract:

    Background: The degree to which one identifies as male or female has a profound impact on one's life.
    Yet, there is a limited understanding of what contributes to this important characteristic termed gender identity.
    In order to reveal factors influencing gender identity, studies have focused on people who report strong feelings of being the opposite sex, such as male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals.

    Method: To investigate potential neuroanatomical variations associated with transsexualism, we compared the regional thickness of the cerebral cortex between 24 MTF transsexuals who had not yet been treated with cross-sex hormones and 24 age-matched control males.

[...]

    Conclusion: These findings provide further evidence that brain anatomy is associated with gender identity, where measures in MTF transsexuals appear to be shifted away from gender-congruent men.