Korean J Radiol.  2012 Jun;13(3):257-264. 10.3348/kjr.2012.13.3.257.

Brain Activation in Response to Visually Evoked Sexual Arousal in Male-to-Female Transsexuals: 3.0 Tesla Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

• Oh SK
• Kim GW
• Yang JC
• Kim SK
• Kang HK
• Jeong GW

• KMID: 1372844
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2012.13.3.257

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to contrast the differential brain activation patterns in response to visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures in male-to-female (MTF) transsexuals who underwent a sex reassignment surgery.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of nine healthy MTF transsexuals after a sex reassignment surgery underwent fMRI on a 3.0 Tesla MR Scanner. The brain activation patterns were induced by visual stimulation with both male and female erotic nude pictures.
RESULTS
The sex hormone levels of the postoperative MTF transsexuals were in the normal range of healthy heterosexual females. The brain areas, which were activated by viewing male nude pictures when compared with viewing female nude pictures, included predominantly the cerebellum, hippocampus, putamen, anterior cingulate gyrus, head of caudate nucleus, amygdala, midbrain, thalamus, insula, and body of caudate nucleus. On the other hand, brain activation induced by viewing female nude pictures was predominantly observed in the hypothalamus and the septal area.
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that distinct brain activation patterns associated with visual sexual arousal in postoperative MTF transsexuals reflect their sexual orientation to males.

Keyword

MTF transsexuals; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Sexual arousal; Sexual orientation; Brain activation

MeSH Terms

Adult
Arousal/physiology
Brain Mapping/*methods
Erotica
Female
Gonadal Steroid Hormones/blood
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Magnetic Resonance Imaging/*methods
Male
Middle Aged
Photic Stimulation
Transsexualism/*psychology

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Differential brain activation patterns in response to visual stimulation with male and female erotic nude pictures, which were processed by two sample t test (p < 0.05), providing contrasts of "male nude pictures" over "female nude pictures" (A) and "female nude pictures" over "male nude pictures" (B). The three-dimensional images were generated using MRIcro (ver. 1.39) software.

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