Testosterone effects on functional amygdala lateralization: A study in adolescent transgender boys and cisgender boys and girls

PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY

卷:111

Article

Beking, T.¹  Burke, S. M.²  Geuze, R. H.¹  Staphorsius, A. S.³  Bakker, J.⁴  Groothuis, A. G. G.⁵  Kreukels, B. P. C.⁶ 

[1] Univ Groningen, Dept Clin & Dev Neuropsychol, Grote Kruisstr 2-1, NL-9712 TS Groningen, Netherlands

[2] Leiden Univ, Brain & Dev Res Ctr, Dept Dev & Educ Psychol, Wassenaarseweg 52, NL-2333 AK Leiden, Netherlands

[3] VU, Dept Internal Med, Amsterdam Univ Med Ctr, Ctr Expertise Gender Dysphoria, POB 7057, NL-1007 MB Amsterdam, Netherlands

[4] Univ Liege, GIGA Neurosci, Ave Hippocrate 15,B36, B-4000 Liege, Belgium

[5] Univ Groningen, Groningen Inst Evolutionary Life Sci, Nijenborgh 7, NL-9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands

[6] VU, Ctr Expertise Gender Dysphoria, Dept Med Psychol, Amsterdam Univ Med Ctr, POB 7057, NL-1007 MB Amsterdam, Netherlands

关键词: Testosterone;    Gender dysphoria;    Asymmetry;    Lateralization;    Amygdala;    Transgender;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104461

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The influence of testosterone on the development of human brain lateralization has been subject of debate for a long time, partly because studies investigating this are necessarily mostly correlational. In the present study we used a quasi-experimental approach by assessing functional brain lateralization in trans boys (female sex assigned at birth, diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria, n = 21) before and after testosterone treatment, and compared these results to the functional lateralization of age-matched control groups of cisgender boys (n = 20) and girls (n = 21) around 16 years of age. The lateralization index of the amygdala was determined with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during an emotional face matching task with angry and fearful faces, as the literature indicates that boys show more activation in the right amygdala than girls during the perception of emotional faces. As expected, the lateralization index in trans boys shifted towards the right amygdala after testosterone treatment, and the cumulative dose of testosterone treatment correlated significantly with amygdala lateralization after treatment. However, we did not find any significant group differences in lateralization and endogenous testosterone concentrations predicted rightward amygdala lateralization only in the cis boys, but not in cis girls or trans boys. These inconsistencies may be due to sex differences in sensitivity to testosterone or its metabolites, which would be a worthwhile course for future studies.

【 授权许可】

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