ArticleBrain and behavior2017
Male-to-female gender dysphoria: Gender-specific differences in resting-state networks.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Structural, Functional, and Metabolic Brain Differences as a Function of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation: A Systematic Review of the Human Neuroimaging Literature.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Pooled it
- The medial temporal lobe in nociception: a meta-analytic and functional connectivity study.Pain · 2019Pooled it
- Comparisons of thalamocortical functional connectivity in transgender women and cisgender individuals: associations with cognition in a Chinese cohort.Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2026Article
- Comparing local brain activity and distant functional connectivity in transgender women compared to cisgender controls.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Beyond the Gender Binarism: Neural Correlates of Trans Men in a Functional Connectivity-Resting-State fMRI Pilot Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Accurate machine learning prediction of sexual orientation based on brain morphology and intrinsic functional connectivity.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2023Article
- Whole-brain dynamics differentiate among cisgender and transgender individuals.Human brain mapping · 2022Article
- Amygdalar Functional Connectivity Differences Associated With Reduced Pain Intensity in Pediatric Peripheral Neuropathic Pain.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Replication of Previous Findings? Comparing Gray Matter Volumes in Transgender Individuals with Gender Incongruence and Cisgender Individuals.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Brain structure changes associated with sexual orientation.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Neural Correlates of Gender Face Perception in Transgender People.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Sex Matters: A Multivariate Pattern Analysis of Sex- and Gender-Related Neuroanatomical Differences in Cis- and Transgender Individuals Using Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2020Article
- Possible Neurobiological Underpinnings of Homosexuality and Gender Dysphoria.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2019Article
- Male-to-female gender dysphoria: Gender-specific differences in resting-state networks.Brain and behavior · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionRecent research found gender-related differences in resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies examining the differences in rs-FC between men, women, and individuals who report a discrepancy between their anatomical sex and their gender identity, i.e. gender dysphoria (GD).
methodsTo address this important issue, we present the first fMRI study systematically investigating the differences in typical resting-state networks (RSNs) and hormonal treatment effects in 26 male-to-female GD individuals (MtFs) compared with 19 men and 20 women.
resultsDifferences between male and female control groups were found only in the auditory RSN, whereas differences between both control groups and MtFs were found in the auditory and fronto-parietal RSNs, including both primary sensory areas (e.g. calcarine gyrus) and higher order cognitive areas such as the middle and posterior cingulate and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Overall, differences in MtFs compared with men and women were more pronounced before cross-sex hormonal treatment. Interestingly, rs-FC between MtFs and women did not differ significantly after treatment. When comparing hormonally untreated and treated MtFs, we found differences in connectivity of the calcarine gyrus and thalamus in the context of the auditory network, as well as the inferior frontal gyrus in context of the fronto-parietal network.
conclusionOur results provide first evidence that MtFs exhibit patterns of rs-FC which are different from both their assigned and their aspired gender, indicating an intermediate position between the two sexes. We suggest that the present study constitutes a starting point for future research designed to clarify whether the brains of individuals with GD are more similar to their assigned or their aspired gender.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.