Neuroscience in transgender people: an update
2020
Transgender persons identify with a gender
different from the one they were assigned at birth.
Although describing oneself as transgender is not a new
phenomenon, media attention has lately been increasing
exponentially, thanks to progressive changes in
laws and change in societal attitudes. These changes
also allow more people nowadays to (openly) identify
as transgender and/or seek gender-affirming treatment.
However, simultaneously, not much is presently
understood about the underlying neurobiology, and
specifically the brain structure and brain function of
transgender persons. One major question in neuroimaging
and neuroscience has been to determine
whether, at the brain level, transgender people resemble
more their gender identity, their sex assigned at
birth, or have a unique neural profile. Although the
evidence is presently inconsistent, it suggests that
while the brain structure, at least before hormonal
treatment, is more similar to sex assigned at birth, it
may shift with hormonal treatment. By contrast, on
“sex-stereotypical tasks,” brain function may already
be more similar to gender identity in transgender persons,
also before receiving gender-affirming hormone
treatment. However, studies continue to be limited by
small sample sizes and new initiatives are needed to
further elucidate the neurobiology of a ‘brain gender’
(sex-dimorphic change according to one’s gender).
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