A research team led by psychiatrists and scientists at Taipei Veterans General Hospital and National Yang-Ming University’s Institute of Brain Science has found that people with gender identity disorder (GID) are characterized by structural and functional alterations in the brain.
People with GID are conflicted between their biological sex and their gender identity.
The research team found, by means of functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI), that the neural connectivity between the part of the brain associated with GID and that with social brain network shown by transsexuals differs — by being more active — from how it is displayed in their non-transsexual counterparts.
Photo: Hung Su-ching, Taipei Times
GID in the brain is believed to contribute to the control of sexual behavior, and the social brain network is the neural structure that is responsible for social interactions such as interpersonal relations, conflict monitoring and punishment adjustment.
The study also found that “transsexuals identify, when viewing male-female couples in erotic or non-erotic [“neutral”] interactions, with the couple member of the desired gender in both situations,” while the non-transsexual controls only did so in the erotic situations.
“The increased connectivity between the area in the brain that is associated with biological sex, sexual characteristics and behavior, and the area associated with social functions such as emotional conflicts, has formed a neural network of ‘system memory’ that is absent in non-transsexuals,” said Hsieh Jen-chuen (謝仁俊), one of the authors of the report and a professor at the institute. “And the presence of the network reflects the conflicts they have experienced both psychologically and physically.”
The psychosocial maladaptation evidenced by the difference of neural connectivity patterns in transsexuals “suggests a brain signature of the psychosocial distress for the gender-sex incongruity of [transsexuals],” the researchers said.
Psychiatrist Lee Ying-chiao (李鶯喬), one of the authors, said that among the 517 GID patients she has seen in the past 18 years, half exhibited symptoms of depression.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS