From a forum post on Feb 9, 2008.
We know that there is most likely an area of the brain responsible for the sensation (perception) of gender identity. However we haven't figured out yet where it is located or how it is encoded (or even more specifically, where we can poke at it in a monkey and generalize it to we humans).
But because I DO believe it is there, I think that our GID is much more likely the result of a malfunctioning "gender identity brain center" than a malformed body. This would make it a mental birth defect - same as schizophrenia or countless others. Of course, just because it exists biologically doesn't mean that is how it is triggered. If it had a biological base and an environmental trigger (again like schizophrenia) that could explain the "late-comers" you might say.
Regardless if it is a problem in the mind or a problem in the body right now there isn't a whole heck of a lot you can do about it. Learn to live with the discomfort or transition (or something in between). If I am correct, perhaps once we have traumatized enough chimps and rhesus monkeys we will discover where we gain our concept of gender identity and will be able to have it modified.
The next question is though, who would want that modification? I think for some being "transgendered" has become so central to their identity (what with all the time being so focused on it) that it might be hard to let go - like they had all that pain for nothing.
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Please read this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtc0106.htm
It is a small study, so I am waiting for a larger one study to confirm it. But interesting non the less
First let me say thank you for the link. I am familiar with this study and would like to comment on it.
ReplyDeleteThe study states:
1) We have a region of the brain that appears to not be influenced by hormonal changes later in life that is larger in men than in women
2) This region in rats is responsible for male sexual behavior and gonadotropin release
3) This region in humans may or may not be involved in sexual function for humans.
4) This region is smaller in MTF TS than in females even but the results were not statistically significant (meaning they don't have enough evidence to prove it with certainty).
This study doesn't support anything regarding transsexuals in my opinion. To do so, they'd need to first, have a statistically significant finding regarding a brain difference in transsexuals. Next they'd have to show that the brain region affected cannot be affected by adult hormones fluxes, and finally they will need to show that the brain difference composes or has something to do with identity.
I don't imagine, considering the rarity of transsexuals, the variety in gender dysphoric people, and the overwhelming sex characteristics that scream "male" in a male to female transsexual, and how little we still know about the brain (I'm a neuroscience major), that we will have an answer anytime soon.