2 Comments
⭠ Return to thread

Homosexuality has biomarkers; gender dysphoria not so much. And yes, windigo would have indistinguishable biomarkers from generalized anxiety (e.g. elevated cortisol)

Expand full comment

Gender identity does indeed have biomarkers.

Women with CAIS are significantly more likely to report viewing themselves as a gender other than female, score especially low on assessments of female gender identity, and score especially high on assessments of male gender identity, independent of their sexual orientation. Contrast this to women with MRKHS, another intersex condition, who report (and are assessed with) a female gender identity at typical rates, despite having more atypical physical sexual development. [1]

Trans women show a female-typical pattern of activation in the hypothalamus when smelling steroids that are known to have a sex-linked effect on the hypothalamus, independent of sexual orientation. [2]

Trans women also show female-typical levels of gray matter volume in specific regions of the brain, independent of sexual orientation. [3]

[1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886909004620

[2] https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/18/8/1900/285954

[3] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053811909003176

Expand full comment