Gender Incongruence and Autistic Traits: Cerebral and Behavioral Underpinnings

• Published in: Archives of sexual behavior 2024-05, Vol.53 (5), p.1873-1884
• Main Authors: Khorashad, Behzad S., Wang, Yanlu, Holmberg, Mats, Dhejne, Cecilia, Savic, Ivanka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder - psychology; Autistic Disorder - psychology; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Body Image - psychology; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Brain research; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Cortex - pathology; Female; Gender dysphoria; Gender Dysphoria - psychology; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Original Paper; Psychology; Public Health; Sexual Behavior; Social Sciences; Temporal Lobe - diagnostic imaging; Temporal Lobe - pathology; Transgender persons; Transgender Persons - psychology; Transsexualism - psychology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0004-0002; 1573-2800; 1573-2800
• DOI: 10.1007/s10508-024-02809-5

Gender dysphoria and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) co-occur at high rates. Yet, it is unknown whether gender dysphoria and ASD are associated with common or distinct neurobiological correlates or how they relate to experiences of gender-related body incongruence. Using the Social Responsiveness Scale, we assessed autistic traits in 99 transgender and 99 cisgender individuals and investigated their associations with gender-related body incongruence, measured via a visually based “Body Morph” test, and with cortical thickness in the brain. Autistic traits were significantly higher among transgender individuals, and those with higher autistic traits had higher body incongruence scoring. Among transgender individuals, higher autistic traits were linked with a thinner cortex bilaterally in the temporal pole and the superior and inferior temporal gyri. Autistic traits were only partly associated with cortical morphology patterns previously reported in transgender individuals; instead, they were primarily linked to temporal lobe areas mediating social cognition. While replicating the previous literature on the increased prevalence of autistic traits among transgender individuals, this study reports specific regions in the brains of transgender individuals where cortical thickness is associated with autistic traits.