Sex dimorphism of the brain in male-to-female transsexuals

Cerebral Cortex

Volumn 21, Issue 11, 2011, Pages 2525-2533

  Savic, Ivanka ^a   Arver, Stefan ^a  

^a KAROLINSKA INSTITUTE   (Sweden)

Author keywords

brain; gender dysphoria; MRI; sex dimoprhism; VBM; volumetry

Indexed keywords

ADULT; BRAIN ASYMMETRY; BRAIN SIZE; CAUDATE NUCLEUS; CEREBELLUM; CONTROLLED STUDY; FEMALE; GRAY MATTER; HEMISPHERE; HETEROSEXUAL FEMALE; HETEROSEXUAL MALE; HIPPOCAMPUS; HUMAN; LINGUAL GYRUS; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; MALE TO FEMALE TRANSSEXUAL; NEUROIMAGING; NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; PRIMARY MOTOR CORTEX; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PUTAMEN; REVIEW; SEX DIFFERENCE; THALAMUS; VOXEL BASED MORPHOMETRY; WHITE MATTER;

ADULT; BRAIN; FEMALE; HUMANS; IMAGE INTERPRETATION, COMPUTER-ASSISTED; MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; SEX CHARACTERISTICS; TRANSSEXUALISM;

EID: 80053019524     PISSN: 10473211     EISSN: 14602199     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhr032     Document Type: Review

References (62)

1. Adamovich SV, August K, Merians A, Tunik E. 2009. A virtual reality-based system integrated with fmri to study neural mechanisms of action observation-execution: a proof of concept study. Restor Neurol Neurosci. 27:209-223.
2. Ashburner J. 2007. A fast diffeomorphic image registration algorithm. Neuroimage. 38:95-113. (Pubitemid 47440133)
3. Becker D, Mester R. 1996. Further insights into transsexualism. Psychopathology. 29:1-6. (Pubitemid 26069426)
4. Bentz EK, Schneeberger C, Hefler LA, van Trotsenburg M, Kaufmann U, Huber JC, Tempfer CB. 2007. A common polymorphism of the SRD5A2 gene and transsexualism. Reprod Sci. 14:705-709. (Pubitemid 351903572)
5. Berglund H, Lindstrom P, Dhejne-Helmy C, Savic I. 2008. Male-to-female transsexuals show sex-atypical hypothalamus activation when smelling odorous steroids. Cereb Cortex. 18:1900-1908. (Pubitemid 352019910)
6. Berglund H, Lindstrom P, Savic I. 2006. Brain response to putative pheromones in lesbian women. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 103:8269-8274. (Pubitemid 43801087)
7. Blanchard R. 1989. The classification and labeling of nonhomosexual gender dysphorias. Arch Sex Behav. 18:315-334. (Pubitemid 19203461)
8. Blanchard R. 1993. Varieties of autogynephilia and their relationship to gender dysphoria. Arch Sex Behav. 22:241-251. (Pubitemid 23152635)
9. Blanchard R, Clemmensen LH, Steiner BW. 1987. Heterosexual and homosexual gender dysphoria. Arch Sex Behav. 16:139-152. (Pubitemid 17057964)
10. Blanchard R, Dickey R, Jones CL. 1995. Comparison of height and weight in homosexual versus nonhomosexual male gender dysphorics. Arch Sex Behav. 24:543-554.
11. Blanke O, Landis T, Spinelli L, Seeck M. 2004. Out-of-body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin. Brain. 127:243-258. (Pubitemid 38160310)
12. Blanke O, Ortigue S, Landis T, Seeck M. 2002. Stimulating illusory own-body perceptions. Nature. 419:269-270.
13. Carillo BG, Gomez-Gil E, Rametti G, Junque C, Gomez A, Karadi K, Sgovia S, Guillamon A. 2010. Cortical activation during mental rotation in male-to-female and female-to-male transsexuals under hormonal treatment. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 35(8):1213-1222.
14. Carne RP, Vogrin S, Litewka L, Cook MJ. 2006. Cerebral cortex: an MRI-based study of volume and variance with age and sex. J Clin Neurosci. 13:60-72. (Pubitemid 43061130)
15. Chen X, Sachdev PS, Wen W, Anstey KJ. 2007. Sex differences in regional gray matter in healthy individuals aged 44-48 years: a voxel-based morphometric study. Neuroimage. 36:691-699. (Pubitemid 46907644)
16. Chung YB, Katayama M. 1996. Assessment of sexual orientation in lesbian/gay/bisexual studies. J Homosex. 30:49-62. (Pubitemid 26152545)
17. Ciumas C, Savic I. 2006. Structural changes in patients with primary generalized tonic and clonic seizures. Neurology. 67:683-686. (Pubitemid 44273620)
18. Cohen-Kettenis PT, Gooren LJ. 1999. Transsexualism: a review of etiology, diagnosis and treatment. J Psychosom Res. 46:315-333. (Pubitemid 29185518)
19. Filipek PA, Richelme C, Kennedy DN, Caviness VS Jr. 1994. The young adult human brain: an MRI-based morphometric analysis. Cereb Cortex. 4:344-360. (Pubitemid 24228840)
20. Gallagher HL, Frith CD. 2003. Functional imaging of "theory of mind". Trends Cogn Sci. 7:77-83.
21. Garcia-Falgueras A, Swaab DF. 2008. A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity. Brain. 131:3132-3146.
22. Giedd JN, Castellanos FX, Rajapakse JC, Vaituzis AC, Rapoport JL. 1997. Sexual dimorphism of the developing human brain. Prog Neuro-psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 21:1185-1201. (Pubitemid 28046695)
23. Giedd JN, Clasen LS, Lenroot R, Greenstein D, Wallace GL, Ordaz S, Molloy EA, Blumenthal JD, Tossell JW, Stayer C, et al. 2006. Puberty-related influences on brain development. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 254-255:154-162. (Pubitemid 44041745)
24. Goldstein JM, Seidman LJ, Horton NJ, Makris N, Kennedy DN, Caviness VS Jr, Faraone SV, Tsuang MT. 2001. Normal sexual dimorphism of the adult human brain assessed by in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. Cereb Cortex. 11:490-497. (Pubitemid 32488376)
25. Good CD, Johnsrude I, Ashburner J, Henson RN, Friston KJ, Frackowiak RS. 2001. Cerebral asymmetry and the effects of sex and handedness on brain structure: a voxel-based morphomet-ric analysis of 465 normal adult human brains. Neuroimage. 14:685-700. (Pubitemid 32801715)
26. Green R, Keverne EB. 2000. The disparate maternal aunt-uncle ratio in male transsexuals: an explanation invoking genomic imprinting. J Theor Biol. 202:55-63. (Pubitemid 30079555)
27. Helms G, Ciumas C, Kyaga S, Savic I. 2006. Increased thalamus levels of glutamate and glutamine (Glx) in patients with idiopathic generalised epilepsy. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 77:489-494.
28. Hodzic A, Kaas A, Muckli L, Stirn A, Singer W. 2009. Distinct cortical networks for the detection and identification of human body. Neuroimage. 45:1264-1271.
29. Holzel BK, Ott U, Gard T, Hempel H, Weygandt M, Morgen K, Vaitl D. 2008. Investigation of mindfulness meditation practitioners with voxel-based morphometry. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 3:55-61. (Pubitemid 351790960)
30. Kinsey AC, Pomeroy WR, Martin CE. 2003. Sexual behavior in the human male. Am J Public Health. 93:894-898.
31. Kovalev VA, Kruggel F, von Cramon DY. 2003. Gender and age effects in structural brain asymmetry as measured by MRI texture analysis. Neuroimage. 19:895-905. (Pubitemid 36918232)
32. Kretschmann HJ, Weinrich W. 1995. Comprehensive and specialty practice-related education in preclinical teaching exemplified by neuroanatomy. Med Klin (Munich). 90:166-169.
33. Kruijver FP, Zhou JN, Pool CW, Hofman MA, Gooren LJ, Swaab DF. 2000. Male-to-female transsexuals have female neuron numbers in a limbic nucleus. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 85:2034-2041. (Pubitemid 32269317)
34. Lawrence AA. 2005. Sexuality before and after male-to-female sex reassignment surgery. Arch Sex Behav. 34:147-166. (Pubitemid 40558420)
35. Leichnetz GR. 2001. Connections of the medial posterior parietal cortex (area 7m) in the monkey. Anat Rec. 263:215-236. (Pubitemid 32510309)
36. Luders E, Gaser C, Narr KL, Toga AW. 2009. Why sex matters: brain size independent differences in gray matter distributions between men and women. J Neurosci. 29:14265-14270.
37. Luders E, Narr KL, Thompson PM, Woods RP, Rex DE, Jancke L, Steinmetz H, Toga AW. 2005. Mapping cortical gray matter in the young adult brain: effects of gender. Neuroimage. 26:493-501. (Pubitemid 40719827)
38. Luders E, Sanchez FJ, Gaser C, Toga AW, Narr KL, Hamilton LS, Vilain E. 2009. Regional gray matter variation in male-to-female trans-sexualism. Neuroimage. 46:904-907.
39. Luders E, Toga AW, Lepore N, Gaser C. 2009. The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter. Neuroimage. 45:672-678.
40. Murphy DG, DeCarli C, McIntosh AR, Daly E, Mentis MJ, Pietrini P, Szczepanik J, Schapiro MB, Grady CL, Horwitz B, et al. 1996. Sex differences in human brain morphometry and metabolism: an in vivo quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography study on the effect of aging. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 53:585-594. (Pubitemid 26240861)
41. Neufang S, Specht K, Hausmann M, Gunturkun O, Herpertz-Dahlmann B, Fink GR, Konrad K. 2009. Sex differences and the impact of steroid hormones on the developing human brain. Cereb Cortex. 19:464-473.
42. Nopoulos P, Flaum M, O'Leary D, Andreasen NC. 2000. Sexual dimorphism in the human brain: evaluation of tissue volume, tissue composition and surface anatomy using magnetic resonance imaging. Psychiatry Res. 98:1-13. (Pubitemid 30119884)
43. Northoff G, Heinzel A, de Greck M, Bermpohl F, Dobrowolny H, Panksepp J. 2006. Self-referential processing in our brain-a meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self. Neuroimage. 31:440-457. (Pubitemid 44250876)
44. Oldfield RC. 1971. The assessment and analysis of handedness: the Edinburgh inventory. Neuropsychologia. 9:97-113.
45. Paus T, Tomaiuolo F, Otaky N, MacDonald D, Petrides M, Atlas J, Morris R, Evans AC. 1996. Human cingulate and paracingulate sulci: pattern, variability, asymmetry, and probabilistic map. Cereb Cortex. 6:207-214. (Pubitemid 26117398)
46. Raz N, Gunning-Dixon F, Head D, Rodrigue KM, Williamson A, Acker JD. 2004. Aging, sexual dimorphism, and hemispheric asymmetry of the cerebral cortex: replicability of regional differences in volume. Neurobiol Aging. 25:377-396. (Pubitemid 38220973)
47. Raz N, Gunning-Dixon F, Head D, Williamson A, Acker JD. 2001. Age and sex differences in the cerebellum and the ventral pons: a prospective MR study of healthy adults. ANJR Am J Neuroradiol. 22:1161-1167. (Pubitemid 32587431)
48. Raz N, Lindenberger U, Rodrigue KM, Kennedy KM, Head D, Williamson A, Dahle C, Gerstorf D, Acker JD. 2005. Regional brain changes in aging healthy adults: general trends, individual differences and modifiers. Cereb Cortex. 15:1676-1689. (Pubitemid 41447032)
49. Raz N, Torres IJ, Acker JD. 1995. Age, gender, and hemispheric differences in human striatum: a quantitative review and new data from in vivo MRI morphometry. Neurobiol Learn Mem. 63:133-142.
50. Rekkas PV, Constable RT. 2005. Evidence that autobiographic memory retrieval does not become independent of the hippocampus: an fMRI study contrasting very recent with remote events. J Cogn Neurosci. 17:1950-1961.
51. Savic I, Berglund H, Lindstrom P. 2005. Brain response to putative pheromones in homosexual men. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 102:7356-7361. (Pubitemid 40696382)
52. Savic I, Lindstrom P. 2008. PET and MRI show differences in cerebral asymmetry and functional connectivity between homo-and heterosexual subjects. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 105:9403-9408.
53. Schlaepfer TE, Harris GJ, Tien AY, Peng L, Lee S, Pearlson GD. 1995. Structural differences in the cerebral cortex of healthy female and male subjects: a magnetic resonance imaging study. Psychiatry Res. 61:129-135.
54. Smith YL, van Goozen SH, Kuiper AJ, Cohen-Kettenis PT. 2005. Transsexual subtypes: clinical and theoretical significance. Psychiatry Res. 137:151-160. (Pubitemid 41712772)
55. Swaab DF. 2007. Sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 21:431-444. (Pubitemid 47387101)
56. Swaab DF, Gooren LJ, Hofman MA. 1992. Gender and sexual orientation in relation to hypothalamic structures. Horm Res. 2(Suppl 38):51-61. (Pubitemid 23061900)
57. Toga AW, Thompson PM. 2003. Mapping brain asymmetry. Nat Rev Neurosci. 4:37-48. (Pubitemid 37271087)
58. Van Goozen SH, Slabbekoorn D, Gooren LJ, Sanders G, Cohen-Kettenis PT. 2002. Organizing and activating effects of sex hormones in homosexual transsexuals. Behav Neurosci. 116:982-988. (Pubitemid 35429633)
59. Vestergaard-Poulsen P, van Beek M, Skewes J, Bjarkam CR, Stubberup M, Bertelsen J, Roepstorff A. 2009. Long-term meditation is associated with increased gray matter density in the brain stem. Neuroreport. 20:170-174.
60. Watson C, Andermann F, Gloor P, Jones-Gotman M, Peters T, Evans A, Olivier A, Melanson D, Leroux G. 1992. Anatomic basis of amygdaloid and hippocampal volume measurement by magnetic resonance imaging. Neurology. 42:1743-1750.
61. Yucel M, Stuart GW, Maruff P, Velakoulis D, Crowe SF, Savage G, Pantelis C. 2001. Hemispheric and gender-related differences in the gross morphology of the anterior cingulate/paracingulate cortex in normal volunteers: an MRI morphometric study. Cereb Cortex. 11:17-25. (Pubitemid 32064173)
62. Zhou JN, Hofman MA, Gooren LJ, Swaab DF. 1995. A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality. Nature. 378:68-70.