Introduction Many gender differences have been evidenced between male and female about their reaction to emotional stimuli. Neurophysiologists discompose the emotion in different parameters, such as the affective valence (positive or negative) and the arousal level (high or low). The most sensible parameter in the male gender, which has the most important variations in response to an emotional stimulus, seems to be the arousal level, meanwhile in the female gender the affective valence is considered the most sensible one. Aim of the study To assess any possible neurophysiological variation in transsexual patients Male to Female undergoing to sex reassignment surgery. Materials and methods 32 pictures (taken from the International Affective Picture System-IAPS), 16 with a positive affective content, 16 with a negative one, have been dispensed to 6 MtoF transsexual patients, before and after receiving sex reassignment surgery. During the pictures’ random presentation, the evocated cognitive cerebral activity (P300) has been recorded for every patient, according to the 10-20 International System electrodes positioning and with the back-averaging technology. The Wilcoxon non-parametric test has been used for the statistical analysis. Results Our results show a statistically sensible variation of the P300 in the postoperative detection, concerning the negative valence pictures. This variation consists of an augmentation for all the patients of the area below the P300 wave, for the Fz, Cz and Pz electrodes recording. Instead, we didn’t find any variation concerning the valence and the effective amplitude of the P300. Discussion Our preliminary study underlines a sensible augmentation of the P300 activity (p<0.03) in the post-operative period in response to the negative and positive affective pictures, which suggests the increasing susceptibility to strong emotions of patients after the sex reassignment surgery. This can be read as a feminizing cerebral effect, being this neurophysiological features typical of the female gender. Take-home message This study point out as the sex reassignment surgery, in MtoF transsexuals, considering neurophysiologycal variations, modify the brain in a female’s way
THE ROLE OF THE SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY IN MTOF TRANSSEXUALS:NEUROPHySIOLOGiCAL POST-OPERATIVE VARIATIONS
ROLLE, Luigi;VIGHETTI, Sergio;CERUTI, Carlo;FALCONE, MARCO;FONTANA, Dario
2011-01-01
Abstract
Introduction Many gender differences have been evidenced between male and female about their reaction to emotional stimuli. Neurophysiologists discompose the emotion in different parameters, such as the affective valence (positive or negative) and the arousal level (high or low). The most sensible parameter in the male gender, which has the most important variations in response to an emotional stimulus, seems to be the arousal level, meanwhile in the female gender the affective valence is considered the most sensible one. Aim of the study To assess any possible neurophysiological variation in transsexual patients Male to Female undergoing to sex reassignment surgery. Materials and methods 32 pictures (taken from the International Affective Picture System-IAPS), 16 with a positive affective content, 16 with a negative one, have been dispensed to 6 MtoF transsexual patients, before and after receiving sex reassignment surgery. During the pictures’ random presentation, the evocated cognitive cerebral activity (P300) has been recorded for every patient, according to the 10-20 International System electrodes positioning and with the back-averaging technology. The Wilcoxon non-parametric test has been used for the statistical analysis. Results Our results show a statistically sensible variation of the P300 in the postoperative detection, concerning the negative valence pictures. This variation consists of an augmentation for all the patients of the area below the P300 wave, for the Fz, Cz and Pz electrodes recording. Instead, we didn’t find any variation concerning the valence and the effective amplitude of the P300. Discussion Our preliminary study underlines a sensible augmentation of the P300 activity (p<0.03) in the post-operative period in response to the negative and positive affective pictures, which suggests the increasing susceptibility to strong emotions of patients after the sex reassignment surgery. This can be read as a feminizing cerebral effect, being this neurophysiological features typical of the female gender. Take-home message This study point out as the sex reassignment surgery, in MtoF transsexuals, considering neurophysiologycal variations, modify the brain in a female’s way
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