Found this article today through my feed reader... they've done yet more studies on trans brains to see if the structure more closely resembles brains of cis males or cis females. We already know that in the brains of dead trans women, there is a difference in the area of the brain called the stria terminalis compared with cis males. In other words, it's closer to perceived sex. Interestingly I've seen this study quoted a lot by gay men to justify homosexuality, which is weird because there was no difference between the stria terminalis when it came to sexuality. This is a relatively old and well-known study, and if I recall right they did do the same on trans men and found similar results. The brain differences were there regardless of whether or not the trans person in question was on hormones.
But I digress. They have a new study, two new studies actually, based on four particular areas of the white matter of the human brain in which males and females differ significantly, and in fact it can be done while one is still alive. One study dealt with trans men, the other with trans women. In each study, roughly 20 cis men, cis women, and trans people had their brains scanned to look at these four particular areas.
Here's the totally non-shocking part: Trans male brains are not structured like cis female brains, and trans female brains are not structured like cis male brains.
Here's the part that actually surprised me and I hope I'm not misreading it: When it came to these four brain areas, trans male brains resembled cis male brains. To quote the article: "It's the first time it has been shown that the brains of female-to-male transsexual people are masculinised." Trans female brains, however, were structurally about halfway in-between cis males and cis females. To quote the article again, "Their brains are not completely masculinised and not completely feminised, but they still feel female."
Honestly? If you were to ask me what I suspected a study like this would turn up, I would assume that either the fully-identified-gender or half-and-half brains would be plausible (and both would be in their own way confirmational), it just strikes me as strange that trans men and trans womens' brains do not share one. I guess if I had to take a shot-in-the-dark guess as to why that is, I'd say that testosterone is a beast, but I'm no scientist so I can't say one way or another. What we do know, in either case, is this: Our identities are not delusions.
Oh, and in case you're wondering? These were all untreated trans people, therefore these structural changes were not caused by hormone therapy. I believe there was a scuff about that in the stria terminalis study, but that's just not how it is in this one.
Practical applications? They're currently trying to see if this can detect gender identity differences in children. That way, if a child displays gender-variant behavior and has a difference in brain structure, a more appropriate medical plan of action can be taken. So, for example, puberty may be medically delayed to ensure sex reassignment procedures can go more smoothly in the future if it's discovered early that a child has a sufficiently high likelihood of continued gender dysphoria.
On the other hand, I have fears that this may turn into a gatekeeper's method... they speak in the generality of "transsexual brains are like this," do we know that this is common to all transsexual brains? Because I think it would be horrendously sad to, for example, have your access to hormone therapy or surgery restricted by a brain scan. Could it cause that? I don't know.
Still, it's an interesting study and I think it may help at least a few people understand that this isn't just a few peoples' cross-gender fantasies.
