Brain signature characterizing the body-brain-mind axis of transsexuals

Individuals with gender identity disorder (GID), who are commonly referred to as transsexuals (TXs), are afflicted by negative psychosocial stressors. Central to the psychological complex of TXs is the conviction of belonging to the opposite sex. Neuroanatomical and functional brain imaging studies...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2013-07, Vol.8 (7), p.e70808-e70808
Main Authors: Ku, Hsiao-Lun, Lin, Chia-Shu, Chao, Hsiang-Tai, Tu, Pei-Chi, Li, Cheng-Ta, Cheng, Chou-Ming, Su, Tung-Ping, Lee, Ying-Chiao, Hsieh, Jen-Chuen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Arousal
Biology
Brain
Brain - physiopathology
Brain architecture
Brain Mapping
Brain research
Cortex (cingulate)
Dentistry
Education
Erotica
Eroticism
Female
Females
Functional anatomy
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
Gender
Gender aspects
Gender identity
Gynecology
Humans
Identification
Magnetic resonance
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Males
Medical research
Medicine
Neural networks
Neuroimaging
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Obstetrics
Psychiatry
Punishment
Sex
Sexual Behavior
Sexual orientation
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Studies
Transsexualism - physiopathology
Transsexualism - psychology
Transsexuals
Ventral tegmentum
Young Adult
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Summary:Individuals with gender identity disorder (GID), who are commonly referred to as transsexuals (TXs), are afflicted by negative psychosocial stressors. Central to the psychological complex of TXs is the conviction of belonging to the opposite sex. Neuroanatomical and functional brain imaging studies have demonstrated that the GID is associated with brain alterations. In this study, we found that TXs identify, when viewing male-female couples in erotic or non-erotic ("neutral") interactions, with the couple member of the desired gender in both situations. By means of functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that the TXs, as opposed to controls (CONs), displayed an increased functional connectivity between the ventral tegmental area, which is associated with dimorphic genital representation, and anterior cingulate cortex subregions, which play a key role in social exclusion, conflict monitoring and punishment adjustment. The neural connectivity pattern suggests a brain signature of the psychosocial distress for the gender-sex incongruity of TXs.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0070808