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A new angle on mental rotation ability in transgender men: Modulation by ovarian milieu
Univ Toronto, Canada.
Univ Toronto, Canada; Baycrest Hosp, Canada.
Univ Toronto, Canada.
Linköping University, Department of Thematic Studies, The Department of Gender Studies. Linköping University, Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Univ Toronto, Canada; Baycrest Hosp, Canada; Womens Coll Hosp, Canada.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0770-5471
2022 (English)In: Psychoneuroendocrinology, ISSN 0306-4530, E-ISSN 1873-3360, Vol. 141, article id 105751Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Organizational/activational theory posits that transgender individuals should perform in the direction of their gender, not their sex, on cognitive tasks that show sex differences-the largest of which are observed on visuospatial tasks. Yet, tests of this hypothesis have been mixed for transgender men (TM). One possible reason is that performance shifts associated with the hormonal milieu at testing have not been fully considered in TM. Although "activating " influences, like gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT), are well-characterized in this population, endogenous ones, like ovarian cycling, have gone unaddressed. To provide a more complete picture of hormonal activation, we explored an influence of ovarian milieu on visuospatial performance of TM, and its potential contributions toward effects of sex and GAHT. We administered two male-favoring mental rotation tests (MRTs), and a sex-neutral control task to 22 TM naive to GAHT (TM-), 29 TM receiving GAHT (TM+), and cisgender men (CM; n = 24) and women (CW; n = 43), testing cycling men (TM-) and women (CW) in either early follicular phase (Follicular) or midluteal phase (Luteal). On MRTs, performance of TM-varied across the menstrual cycle, and matched that of menstrual phase-matched CW. Additionally, cycling individuals in Follicular performed as strongly as TM+ and CM, all of whom performed above individuals in Luteal. Effects did not extend to a verbal control task, on which TM+ performed below others. Rather than conforming to static categories that suggest sex-or gender-typical organization of cognitive circuits, our findings support dynamic shifts in visuospatial ability of TM, and illustrate the need to consider activating effects of hormones beyond GAHT.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD , 2022. Vol. 141, article id 105751
Keywords [en]
Transgender; Gender-affirming hormone therapy; Sex differences; Menstrual cycle; Mental rotation; Logical memory
National Category
Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Reproductive Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-186135DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105751ISI: 000806353300008PubMedID: 35398751OAI: oai:DiVA.org:liu-186135DiVA, id: diva2:1673508
Note

Funding Agencies|National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Alzheimers Association Research Fellowship; Brain Canada Foundation [AARF-17-504715]; Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Womens Brain Health and Aging [WJP-150643]; Jacqueline Ford Gender and Health Fund

Available from: 2022-06-21 Created: 2022-06-21 Last updated: 2025-02-11

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