Our Gender Identity is Determined by Brain Region Cross-Links

Our sense of belonging to the male or female gender is an inherent component of human identity perception. Now, though, scientists have found that gender identity is reflected and verifiable in the cross-links between brain regions. In other words, whether you identify as male or female largely has to do with your brain.

Biological gender is usually manifested in physical appearance. However, gender identity is not necessarily immediately discernable. Instead, it's established in the psyche of a human. That's why scientists decided to take a closer look at the neural representation of gender identity.

The researchers examined trans-gender people in addition to male and female control subjects. All were looked at with the use of diffusion-based magnetic resonance tomography (MRT). The researchers found significant differences in the microstructure of the brain connections between male and female control subjects. In contrast, transgender people took up a middle position between both possible.

That's not all the scientists discovered. They also detected a strong relationship between the microstructure connections among these networks and the testosterone level measured in the blood.

"These results suggest that the gender identity is reflected in the structure of brain networks which form under the modulating influence of sex hormones in the course of the development of the nervous system," said Rupert Lanzenberger, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The findings are published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

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