Minority Stress and the Effects on Emotion Processing in Transgender Men and Cisgender People: A Study Combining fMRI and 1H-MRS

Summary & key facts

Researchers used brain imaging (fMRI) and brain chemistry scans (1H-MRS) in 30 transgender men, 30 cisgender men, and 35 cisgender women to study how anxiety and stress relate to emotion processing. After some data exclusions, the usable samples were 26 transgender men, 29 cis men, and 30 cis women for fMRI, and 25, 28, and 30 for spectroscopy. The study found that levels of the brain chemical choline changed how anxiety and perceived stress were linked to amygdala responses to angry and surprised faces — but this link was seen only in transgender men. The choline effect was not seen for happy faces or in the cisgender groups. Results are correlational and based on modest sample sizes.

Key facts:

• The original sample was 95 people (30 transgender men, 30 cisgender men, 35 cisgender women). After quality exclusions, fMRI data came from 26 transgender men, 29 cis men, and 30 cis women; 1H-MRS data came from 25 transgender men, 28 cis m
• The main finding: choline levels modulated the link between anxiety and perceived stress and amygdala activity when viewing angry and surprised faces, and this was observed only in transgender men.
• The choline-related modulation was not present for happy faces and was not seen in the cisgender comparison groups.
• Neural activity in transgender men during emotional face viewing (left amygdala, left middle frontal gyrus, medial frontal gyrus) resembled the pattern seen in cisgender women.
• The participant groups differed on measures of trait anxiety, state anxiety, depression, and perceived stress; the analyses included education as a control variable.
• The study is observational and cross-sectional. It shows associations between choline, anxiety/stress, and brain responses, but it does not prove cause and effect. Sample sizes were modest and some data were excluded for quality reasons.

Abstract

These results provide first evidence, to our knowledge, of a critical interaction between levels of analysis and that choline may influence neural processing of emotion in individuals prone to minority stress.

Topics

LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy Racial and Ethnic Identity Research Social and Intergroup Psychology

Categories

Psychology Social Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Amygdala Anxiety Audiology Clinical psychology Cognition Functional magnetic resonance imaging Inferior frontal gyrus Medicine Mood Neural correlates of consciousness Neurochemical Neuroscience Psychiatry Psychoanalysis Psychology Transgender

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Anxiety or worry Sadness or low mood