Transsexualism: A Different Viewpoint to Brain Changes

Abstract

Transsexualism refers to a condition or belief which results in gender dysphoria in individuals and makes them insist that their biological gender is different from their psychological and experienced gender. Although the etiology of gender dysphoria (or transsexualism) is still unknown, different neuroimaging studies show that structural and functional changes of the brain result from this sexual incongruence. The question here is whether these reported changes form part of the etiology of transsexualism or themselves result from transsexualism culture, behaviors and lifestyle. Responding to this question can be more precise by consideration of cultural neuroscience concepts, particularly the culture–behavior–brain (CBB) loop model and the interactions between behavior, culture and brain. In this article, we first review the studies on the brain of transgender people and then we will discuss the validity of this claim based on the CBB loop model. In summary, transgender individuals experience change in lifestyle, context of beliefs and concepts and, as a result, their culture and behaviors. Given the close relationship and interaction between culture, behavior and brain, the individual’s brain adapts itself to the new condition (culture) and concepts and starts to alter its function and structure.

Structural, Functional, and Metabolic Brain Differences as a Function of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation: A Systematic Review of the Human Neuroimaging Literature

“…Some authors refer to an early programming of gender and sexual inclination driven by sexual differentiation in the brain, proposing that the latter influences the development of the brain areas modulating body perception (i.e., related to gender identity) or sexual arousal (i.e., related to sexual orientation) (Burke et al, 2017;Manzouri & Savic, 2019). Others underline the interaction between brain, culture and behavior, arguing that structural and functional brain changes in transgender individuals may be consequence of culture and behavior (Mohammadi & Khalegi, 2018). The etiology and drivers of differences in gender identity and sexual orientation is out of the scope of this review, and caution must be exercised to drive conclusions from the neuroscience literature alone, as human behavior, ultimately, is not reducible to biological nor to cultural factors, but is a consequence of their interaction.…”

Structural, Functional, and Metabolic Brain Differences as a Function of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation: A Systematic Review of the Human Neuroimaging Literature

“…Some authors refer to an early programming of gender and sexual inclination driven by sexual differentiation in the brain, proposing that the latter influences the development of the brain areas modulating body perception (i.e., related to gender identity) or sexual arousal (i.e., related to sexual orientation) (Burke, Manzouri & Savic, 2017;Manzouri & Savic, 2019). Others underline the interaction between brain, culture and behavior, arguing that structural and functional brain changes in transgender individuals may be consequence of culture and behavior (Mohammadi & Khalegi, 2018). The etiology and drivers of differences in gender identity and sexual orientation is out of the scope of this review, and caution must be exercised to drive conclusions from the neuroscience literature alone, as human behavior, ultimately, is not reducible to biological nor to cultural factors, but is a consequence of their interaction.…”

Identidad de Género y Salud Mental

“…Se ha encontrado mutaciones en el gen del receptor de rianodina 3 (RYR3) en un pequeño grupo de personas transgénero de etnia Han en China (18) . Se ha descrito también polimorfismo del gen CYP17 (CYP17-34C) y alteraciones en la expresión génica de hormonas sexuales (19) . De todas formas, los estudios sobre diferenciación sexual y ambiente hormonal intrauterino alterado, como en casos de hiperplasia suprarrenal congénita o de déficit de 5-alfa reductasa, han mostrado que la identidad de género no siempre se relaciona con el estado gonadal in utero ni con la exposición diferencial a hormonas sexuales (20) .…”