Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria
Gender dysphoria (GD) is characterized by distress due to an incongruence between experienced gender and sex assigned at birth. Brain functional connectivity in adolescents who experience GD may be associated with experienced gender (vs. assigned sex) and/or brain networks implicated in own-body per...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Endocrinology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.903058/full |
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| author | Malvina N. Skorska Nancy J. Lobaugh Nancy J. Lobaugh Michael V. Lombardo Nina van Bruggen Sofia Chavez Sofia Chavez Lindsey T. Thurston Madison Aitken Kenneth J. Zucker M. Mallar Chakravarty M. Mallar Chakravarty M. Mallar Chakravarty Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Doug P. VanderLaan Doug P. VanderLaan |
| author_facet | Malvina N. Skorska Nancy J. Lobaugh Nancy J. Lobaugh Michael V. Lombardo Nina van Bruggen Sofia Chavez Sofia Chavez Lindsey T. Thurston Madison Aitken Kenneth J. Zucker M. Mallar Chakravarty M. Mallar Chakravarty M. Mallar Chakravarty Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Doug P. VanderLaan Doug P. VanderLaan |
| author_sort | Malvina N. Skorska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Gender dysphoria (GD) is characterized by distress due to an incongruence between experienced gender and sex assigned at birth. Brain functional connectivity in adolescents who experience GD may be associated with experienced gender (vs. assigned sex) and/or brain networks implicated in own-body perception. Furthermore, sexual orientation may be related to brain functional organization given commonalities in developmental mechanisms proposed to underpin GD and same-sex attractions. Here, we applied group independent component analysis to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) BOLD timeseries data to estimate inter-network (i.e., between independent components) timeseries correlations, representing functional connectivity, in 17 GD adolescents assigned female at birth (AFAB) not receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy, 17 cisgender girls, and 15 cisgender boys (ages 12-17 years). Sexual orientation was represented by degree of androphilia-gynephilia and sexual attractions strength. Multivariate partial least squares analyses found that functional connectivity differed among cisgender boys, cisgender girls, and GD AFAB, with the largest difference between cisgender boys and GD AFAB. Regarding sexual orientation and age, the brain’s intrinsic functional organization of GD AFAB was both similar to and different from cisgender girls, and both differed from cisgender boys. The pattern of group differences and the networks involved aligned with the hypothesis that brain functional organization is different among GD AFAB (vs. cisgender) adolescents, and certain aspects of this organization relate to brain areas implicated in own-body perception and self-referential thinking. Overall, brain functional organization of GD AFAB was generally more similar to that of cisgender girls than cisgender boys. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:50:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-73dc14791c844d19a5f5651a02d0ff86 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2392 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T20:50:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Endocrinology |
| spelling | doaj.art-73dc14791c844d19a5f5651a02d0ff862022-12-22T02:30:31ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Endocrinology1664-23922022-07-011310.3389/fendo.2022.903058903058Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender DysphoriaMalvina N. Skorska0Nancy J. Lobaugh1Nancy J. Lobaugh2Michael V. Lombardo3Nina van Bruggen4Sofia Chavez5Sofia Chavez6Lindsey T. Thurston7Madison Aitken8Kenneth J. Zucker9M. Mallar Chakravarty10M. Mallar Chakravarty11M. Mallar Chakravarty12Meng-Chuan Lai13Meng-Chuan Lai14Meng-Chuan Lai15Meng-Chuan Lai16Meng-Chuan Lai17Meng-Chuan Lai18Doug P. VanderLaan19Doug P. VanderLaan20Child and Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, CanadaBrain Health Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Medicine, Division of Neurology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaLaboratory for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems @UniTn, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto, ItalyDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaBrain Health Imaging Centre, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaCerebral Imaging Centre, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, PQ, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, CanadaDepartment of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, CanadaChild and Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada0The Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth & Family Mental Health and Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre, Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada1Department of Psychiatry and Autism Research Unit, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada2Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital and College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan3Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United KingdomChild and Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, CanadaGender dysphoria (GD) is characterized by distress due to an incongruence between experienced gender and sex assigned at birth. Brain functional connectivity in adolescents who experience GD may be associated with experienced gender (vs. assigned sex) and/or brain networks implicated in own-body perception. Furthermore, sexual orientation may be related to brain functional organization given commonalities in developmental mechanisms proposed to underpin GD and same-sex attractions. Here, we applied group independent component analysis to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) BOLD timeseries data to estimate inter-network (i.e., between independent components) timeseries correlations, representing functional connectivity, in 17 GD adolescents assigned female at birth (AFAB) not receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy, 17 cisgender girls, and 15 cisgender boys (ages 12-17 years). Sexual orientation was represented by degree of androphilia-gynephilia and sexual attractions strength. Multivariate partial least squares analyses found that functional connectivity differed among cisgender boys, cisgender girls, and GD AFAB, with the largest difference between cisgender boys and GD AFAB. Regarding sexual orientation and age, the brain’s intrinsic functional organization of GD AFAB was both similar to and different from cisgender girls, and both differed from cisgender boys. The pattern of group differences and the networks involved aligned with the hypothesis that brain functional organization is different among GD AFAB (vs. cisgender) adolescents, and certain aspects of this organization relate to brain areas implicated in own-body perception and self-referential thinking. Overall, brain functional organization of GD AFAB was generally more similar to that of cisgender girls than cisgender boys.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.903058/fullgender dysphoriaindependent component analysisresting-state fMRIbrain intrinsic functional organizationsexual orientationadolescence |
| spellingShingle | Malvina N. Skorska Nancy J. Lobaugh Nancy J. Lobaugh Michael V. Lombardo Nina van Bruggen Sofia Chavez Sofia Chavez Lindsey T. Thurston Madison Aitken Kenneth J. Zucker M. Mallar Chakravarty M. Mallar Chakravarty M. Mallar Chakravarty Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Meng-Chuan Lai Doug P. VanderLaan Doug P. VanderLaan Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria Frontiers in Endocrinology gender dysphoria independent component analysis resting-state fMRI brain intrinsic functional organization sexual orientation adolescence |
| title | Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria |
| title_full | Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria |
| title_fullStr | Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria |
| title_short | Inter-Network Brain Functional Connectivity in Adolescents Assigned Female at Birth Who Experience Gender Dysphoria |
| title_sort | inter network brain functional connectivity in adolescents assigned female at birth who experience gender dysphoria |
| topic | gender dysphoria independent component analysis resting-state fMRI brain intrinsic functional organization sexual orientation adolescence |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2022.903058/full |
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