Study Shows Transexuals Display Brain Differences

Two studies to be published in the coming weeks point to transexuals presenting differences in the brain’s white matter when compared to their birth-sex conforming counterparts, giving scientists a chance at being able to discern physical indicators for transexuality.

Particular characteristics have previously been noted in one region of gray matter in the brain but given the area’s size and location it has been impossible to scan in a living person and therefore could only be examined after death.

Headed by researcher Antonio Guillamon, a team at the National University of Distance Education in Madrid, Spain, believe they may now have found a physical indicator in the brain that can be shown when a living person is scanned.

From The New Scientist:

In a study due to be published next month, the team ran MRI scans on the brains of 18 female-to-male transsexual people who’d had no treatment and compared them with those of 24 males and 19 females.

They found significant differences between male and female brains in four regions of white matter – and the female-to-male transsexual people had white matter in these regions that resembled a male brain. “It’s the first time it has been shown that the brains of female-to-male transsexual people are masculinised,” Guillamon says.

In a separate study, the team used the same technique to compare white matter in 18 male-to-female transsexual people with that in 19 males and 19 females. Surprisingly, in each transsexual person’s brain the structure of the white matter in the four regions was halfway between that of the males and females. “Their brains are not completely masculinised and not completely feminised, but they still feel female,” says Guillamon.

Whether the regions identified in this study directly tie to how the brain deals with gender identity is not yet known, however it is thought that at least one of the four regions, the superior longitudinal fasciculus, could play a part in physical self-perception.

Should this indicator be proven in further studies, the potential is there for enabling physicians to better identify transexuality. This would be particularly helpful in cases of children displaying gender dysphoria, giving doctors demonstrable cause to recommend delaying puberty through the use of medications with a mind toward later considering, among other options, gender reassignment should the child’s gender identity remain different to their birth gender in the long term.

There is also the consideration that identification of a definable transexual characteristic in the brain may serve to better indicate the potential for a successful gender reassignment surgery.

However, the article notes that these physical indicators will not help in all cases:

“Research has shown that white matter matures during the first 20 to 30 years of life,” he says. “People may experience early or late onset of transsexuality and we don’t know what causes this difference.”

This aside, one can not overlook the fact that visible indicators would also be important in terms of combating the social stigma associated with transexuality and gender identity variance, supporting the push for trans-inclusive employment non-discrimination legislation and housing protections, where previously trans identity has been labeled by some as either a lifestyle choice or a mental illness.

Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, with thanks to Akira Ohgaki.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Rose N.

2:47PM PST on Feb 27, 2011

Thank you for posting.

send a green star

2:45PM PST on Feb 27, 2011

Barbara E.

4:23PM PST on Feb 7, 2011

thanx for information

Ann G.

8:57PM PST on Feb 6, 2011

What I am worried about is that this will be diagnosable in utero. Would conservatives, who obviously wouldn't want a transsexual child, get an abortion? Just think of the paradox: abortion or the "shame" of giving birth to a transsexual kid. That would certainly be interesting to see.

Norma V.

10:13PM PST on Feb 5, 2011

Aren't brain differences great?

Gina P.

2:47PM PST on Feb 3, 2011

About time someone acknowledged that these people have real differences, not just ideas they are stuck on. Let's let them be who they want to be.

Jesse D.

9:19AM PST on Feb 3, 2011

Care in the medical field should be considered first by the individuals needs. I know myself better than anyone. To be trans means to feel you are in the 'wrong' body as assigned by biological factors. Yes take it from a psychic/dimensional healer guy, when I look at the 'higher-self' of an individual it is much different than what the body displays. Hinduism 101= 'You are not the body'....Wake up people. We are really spirits incased in a body!

Paul M.

9:01AM PST on Feb 2, 2011

"Choice" is a multi-faceted, and exceedingly complicated issue... Some will argue that a woman dissatisfied with the limitations in opportunities due to her birth sex has the choice to get a sex change... most of all, presumably, would consider this going a bit out of bounds, even to the extent that reassignment surgery is "changing one's birth sex." Further, if a GG (Genuine Girl) feels like she's discriminated against as a woman, I bet she'll likely find being a transsexual won't be much better... I strongly support LGBT rights, but "choice" is always a bit more involved an issue once one gets involved in it. I mean some people say that anyone can also be celibate... not that that will solve everyone's problems with gender or sexual variance... but again, how much is an individual expected to sacrifice to make others marginally more comfortable? However, I'm a strong believer in individual rights, and so to whatever extent it may be "choice," or perhaps not so much of a "choice," I usually come down on the side of the individual. Give the individual as much leeway to "choose" for their life as much as possible. Generally, IMHO, unless there's a substantive conflict in rights there shouldn't be an issue. What it is is that political organizations take political 'positions' for good reasons... Unfortunately, if it is deemed a 'choice' many will more try to take the choice away from the individual... that's the problem.

Ginger S.

6:32AM PST on Feb 2, 2011

Autistic people have different brains...schizophrenics have different brains. Down Syndrome kids have different brains.I know it's not PC to say but any mental birth defect or illness has that trait. That doesn't make it 'ok' or 'normal' it just makes it a difference...which is not a moral failing on any of those cases...it is just an abnormalcy. Different people should be accepted and respected, but it's all just birth defects, or later onset illnesses, not something to be celebrated and praised.

KayL N.

8:46PM PST on Feb 1, 2011

Sadly, when science is at variance with faith-based beliefs, most believers choose faith over logic/evidence. Creationists are a prime example of this mindframe.