Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36006074›Full record

ArticleTomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.)2022

Investigation of Brain Activation Patterns Related to the Feminization or Masculinization of Body and Face Images across Genders.

Carlo Ceruti, Alessandro Cicerale, Matteo Diano, Mattia Sibona, Caterina Guiot, Giovanna Motta, Chiara Crespi, Anna Gualerzi, Fabio Lanfranco, Mauro Bergui and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Tomography (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Carlo CerutiDepartment of Surgical Sciences, Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy.
Alessandro CiceraleDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy.
Matteo DianoDepartment of Psychology, University of Turin, 10124 Torino, Italy.
Mattia SibonaDepartment of Surgical Sciences, Città della Salute e della Scienza Hospital, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy.
Caterina GuiotDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-8529-1625
Giovanna MottaCIDIGeM-Molinette Center for Gender Dysphoria Study Group, 10126 Torino, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-6665-8882
Chiara CrespiCIDIGeM-Molinette Center for Gender Dysphoria Study Group, 10126 Torino, Italy.
Anna GualerziCIDIGeM-Molinette Center for Gender Dysphoria Study Group, 10126 Torino, Italy.
Fabio LanfrancoCIDIGeM-Molinette Center for Gender Dysphoria Study Group, 10126 Torino, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-2270-0465
Mauro BerguiDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy.
Federico D'AgataDepartment of Neurosciences, University of Turin, 10126 Torino, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-9432-0248

Funding

European Research Council 772953
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Previous studies demonstrated sex-related differences in several areas of the human brain, including patterns of brain activation in males and females when observing their own bodies and faces (versus other bodies/faces or morphed versions of themselves), but a complex paradigm touching multiple aspects of embodied self-identity is still lacking. We enrolled 24 healthy individuals (12 M, 12 F) in 3 different fMRI experiments: the vision of prototypical body silhouettes, the vision of static images of the face of the participants morphed with prototypical male and female faces, the vision of short videos showing the dynamic transformation of the morphing. We found differential sexual activations in areas linked to self-identity and to the ability to attribute mental states: In Experiment 1, the male group activated more the bilateral thalamus when looking at sex congruent body images, while the female group activated more the middle and inferior temporal gyrus. In Experiment 2, the male group activated more the supplementary motor area when looking at their faces; the female group activated more the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). In Experiment 3, the female group activated more the dmPFC when observing either the feminization or the masculinization of their face. The defeminization produced more activations in females in the left superior parietal lobule and middle occipital gyrus. The performance of all classifiers built using single ROIs exceeded chance level, reaching an area under the ROC curves > 0.85 in some cases (notably, for Experiment 2 using the V1 ROI). The results of the fMRI tasks showed good agreement with previously published studies, even if our sample size was small. Therefore, our functional MRI protocol showed significantly different patterns of activation in males and females, but further research is needed both to investigate the gender-related differences in activation when observing a morphing of their face/body, and to validate our paradigm using a larger sample.

Indexed as

Brain MappingFeminizationBody ImageBrainFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMalebrain sex differencesfMRIvisual body processingvisual face processing

Identifiers

PMID36006074
PMCPMC9416062

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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.