Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42127800›Full record

ArticleDialogues in clinical neuroscience2026

Comparisons of thalamocortical functional connectivity in transgender women and cisgender individuals: associations with cognition in a Chinese cohort.

Guanmao Chen, Ruoyi Chen, Mengqi Liao, Shilin Sun, Pan Chen, Zixuan Guo, Chao Chen, Xinyue Tang, Zhangzhang Qi, Shuming Zhong and 4 more

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
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Article in Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Guanmao ChenMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Ruoyi ChenMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Mengqi LiaoMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Shilin SunMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Pan ChenMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Zixuan GuoMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Chao ChenMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Xinyue TangMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Zhangzhang QiMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Shuming ZhongDepartment of Psychiatry, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Lvfen GaoDepartment of Gynaecology, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Xiaoxing HuangMedical Imaging Center, Zhongshan City People's Hospital, Zhongshan, China.
Xuehong XiaoMedical Imaging Center, Zhongshan City People's Hospital, Zhongshan, China.
Ying WangMedical Imaging Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.ORCID 0000-0002-0388-4177

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionGender dysphoria (GD) causes distress from gender-sex incongruence with elevated suicide risk, yet its neuropathology remains unclear. The thalamic-cortical functional connectivity (FC) in transgender women (TW) is unexplored. We investigated thalamo-cortical FC and its mediating role in TW's symptom-cognition relationships.

methodsWe retrospectively analysed resting-state fMRI from 44 TW, 40 cisgender men (CM), and 42 cisgender women (CW), between October 2021 and January 2024. Clinical symptoms (GIDYQ-AA) and cognition (MCCB) were assessed. Seed-based thalamic subregion FC and mediation analyses were performed.

resultsRelative to CW, TW and CM exhibited increased FC in multiple thalamo-prefrontal circuits. Compared to CM, TW showed decreased left mPFtha-left DLPFC FC (p = 0.026), and right rTtha-left DLPFC FC (p = 0.025). Compared to CM, right PPtha-right MOG FC (p = 0.023; p < 0.001), and right cTtha-right SOG FC (p = 0.008; p < 0.001) were increased in TW and CW. In TW, left rTtha-bilateral MPFC FC correlated with GIDYQ-AA scores, attention/vigilance, and composite. This FC fully mediated relationships between GD symptoms and both attention/vigilance (bootstrapped 95% CI = 1.861-11.688) and composite (bootstrapped 95% CI = 1.025-12.283).

conclusionsTW exhibit thalamo-cortical FC abnormalities and cognitive dysfunction. Critically, thalamus-MPFC dysconnectivity mediates GD symptom-related cognitive dysfunction, revealing a novel neural pathway. Validation in larger, diverse samples is needed.

Indexed as

Cerebral CortexCognitionGender DysphoriaThalamusTransgender PersonsAdultChinaCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNeural PathwaysRetrospective StudiesYoung Adultcognitive functionsfunctional connectivityfunctional magnetic resonance imagingGender dysphoriamediation analysisthalamus

Identifiers

PMID42127800
PMCPMC13173571

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