Structural measures differences between early pubertal gender-diverse and cisgender youth
Poster No:
1233
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Melanie Camejo Coffigny1, Charlotte Rosario2, Cat Bui1, Taiga Nishida2, Javad Ansarifar1, Manu Kaur1, David Hong1
Institutions:
1Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 2Nueva High School, Palo Alto, CA
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Transgender youth are a vulnerable population often underrepresented in research (Gower et al., 2018). While previous studies have indicated that the hormonal fluctuations accompanying puberty contribute to neural reorganization and maturational progression in adolescents (Goddings et.al, 2019), these insights are derived from findings on cisgender youth, leaving a notable gap in our understanding of the neural implications for transgender adolescents. To address this gap, our study assessed global and regional differences in brain volume, cortical thickness and surface area among early pubertal transgender youth compared to cisgender youth.
Methods:
As part of an ongoing longitudinal study at Stanford University, structural measures were examined in a cohort of 23 transgender (60.8% female) and 24 cisgender (58.3% female) participants recruited during the early stages of puberty, e.g. Tanner Stages I-III, ranging in age from 10 to 15 years at the time of enrollment. Participants were categorized into four gender groups: cisgender male (MC), cisgender female (FC), transgender female (FtM), and transgender male (MtF). The MRI sequence used was T1-weighted image: TR: 8.5 ms, TE: 3.4 ms, flip: 15 degrees, TI: 400 ms, FOV: 22 cm, slice thickness: 1.5 mm, 128 slices, 256x256 matrix, NEX 1, scan time: 4 min 34 sec.
Cortical reconstruction and volumetric segmentation were performed using Freesurfer v.7.3.2., with 10mm FWHM smoothing. Global differences of total cortical volume (TCV) amongst groups were estimated using a one-way ANOVA, while differences in total surface area (TSA) and total cortical thickness (TCT) were estimated using a one-way ANCOVA whilst controlling for eTIV. Assumptions for Levene's test and normality checks were met. Regional statistical analyses were conducted using a Generalized Linear Model, cluster-corrected for multiple comparisons. Right and left hemispheres were analyzed separately.
Cortical reconstruction and volumetric segmentation were performed using Freesurfer v.7.3.2., with 10mm FWHM smoothing. Global differences of total cortical volume (TCV) amongst groups were estimated using a one-way ANOVA, while differences in total surface area (TSA) and total cortical thickness (TCT) were estimated using a one-way ANCOVA whilst controlling for eTIV. Assumptions for Levene's test and normality checks were met. Regional statistical analyses were conducted using a Generalized Linear Model, cluster-corrected for multiple comparisons. Right and left hemispheres were analyzed separately.
Results:
There was a significant difference in global intracranial volume (F(3,21.4)=5.35, p=0.007) between groups. Post-hoc tests found a significant difference between cisgender females and males (p=0.015), and cisgender females and transgender males (p=0.014). There were no significant differences in TSA and TCT between groups.
Regional analyses of CV, SA and CT showed significant differences between groups in the superior frontal (SFG), rostral middle frontal (RMFG), and inferior temporal gyri (ITG), with most clusters found on the left hemisphere (see Table 1 for details).
Regional analyses of CV, SA and CT showed significant differences between groups in the superior frontal (SFG), rostral middle frontal (RMFG), and inferior temporal gyri (ITG), with most clusters found on the left hemisphere (see Table 1 for details).
·Table 1.Significant clusters for differences in surface area, volume and cortical thickness between transgender and cisgender youth.
Conclusions:
The global differences in total cranial volume between cisgender and transgender groups found in this study align with previous findings based on assigned sex at birth. Given that this group of transgender youth had not undergone gender-affirming hormone therapy, it is not surprising these findings are in alignment. However, the regional differences we found in CV, SA and CT, have not been previously reported in prior literature due to the lack of research on early pubertal transgender youth. In the future, we hope to further expand these novel contributions to the field of human brain mapping by assessing the neural development of transgender youth undergoing gender-affirming hormone therapy.
Education, History and Social Aspects of Brain Imaging:
Education, History and Social Aspects of Brain Imaging 2
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Multivariate Approaches
Neuroanatomy, Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
Cortical Anatomy and Brain Mapping
Keywords:
Development
STRUCTURAL MRI
Other - Transgender youth
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Fischl, B., 2000. Measuring the thickness of the human cerebral cortex from magnetic resonance images. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 97, 11050-11055.
Hagler, D. J., (2006). Smoothing and cluster thresholding for cortical surface-based group analysis of fMRI data. NeuroImage, 33(4), 1093–1103.