Psychiatry · 2 h ago
Study links brain activity and childhood trauma in transgender women with gender dysphoria
A cross-sectional study compared resting-state fMRI findings in 44 transgender women with gender dysphoria and 82 cisgender controls. The researchers found differences in activity in the posterior cingulate cortex and cerebellum, with some brain measures associated with reported childhood trauma; the findings do not establish causation.
- Study included 44 transgender women and 82 cisgender controls.
- PCC and cerebellar activity differed between groups.
- Brain measures were associated with reported childhood trauma.
- Cross-sectional findings do not establish cause or clinical utility.
Researchers assessed 44 transgender women with gender dysphoria, 40 cisgender men and 42 cisgender women using childhood-trauma and gender-dysphoria questionnaires, alongside resting-state functional MRI. They analyzed amplitude and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and examined associations with gene-expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas and atlas-based neurotransmitter maps.
Compared with cisgender controls, transgender women had lower ALFF in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and higher ALFF in cerebellar lobule IX. Right-PCC fALFF was lower than in cisgender women. Participants with gender dysphoria also reported higher childhood-trauma scores. PCC activity was associated with questionnaire scores, including measures of emotional abuse and neglect; interactions between right-PCC fALFF and trauma measures independently predicted gender-dysphoria questionnaire scores. The brain-activity findings were associated with gene-expression patterns related to mRNA catabolism and synaptic function, and with dopaminergic and serotonergic maps.
The results describe associations in a relatively small, cross-sectional sample and cannot show that trauma causes brain differences or gender dysphoria. Gene and neurotransmitter analyses were based on atlas data. The study provides no basis for clinical decisions or changes in care.
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BMC Medicine: Altered brain activity and childhood trauma associate with gene and neurotransmitter patterns in transgender women with gender dysphoria ↗This is an automated AI-condensed summary that has not yet been reviewed by an editor. Always consult the full item at the original source.