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Task-domain and hemisphere-asymmetry effects in cisgender and transmale individuals

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  • E Darcy Burgund

Abstract

The present research examined the extent to which transmale individuals’ functional brain organization resembles that of their assigned sex or gender identity. Cisgender-female, cisgender-male, and transmale participants, who were assigned female sex but did not have a female gender identity, were compared in terms of effects that have been observed in cisgender individuals: task-domain effects, in which males perform better than females on spatial tasks and females perform better than males on verbal tasks; and hemisphere-asymmetry effects, in which males show larger differences between the left and right hemispheres than females. In addition, the present research measured participants’ intelligence in order to control for potential moderating effects. Participants performed spatial (mental rotation) and verbal (lexical decision) tasks presented to each hemisphere using a divided-visual field paradigm, and then completed an intelligence assessment. In the mental-rotation task, cismale and transmale participants performed better than cisfemale participants, however this group difference was explained by intelligence scores, with higher scores predicting better performance. In the lexical-decision task, cismale and transmale participants exhibited a greater left-hemisphere advantage than cisfemales, and this difference was not affected by intelligence scores. Taken together, results do not support task-domain effects when intelligence is accounted for; however, they do demonstrate a hemisphere-asymmetry effect in the verbal domain that is moderated by gender identity and not assigned sex.

Suggested Citation

  • E Darcy Burgund, 2021. "Task-domain and hemisphere-asymmetry effects in cisgender and transmale individuals," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-19, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0260542
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260542
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Varriale, Vincenzo & van der Molen, Maurits W. & De Pascalis, Vilfredo, 2018. "Mental rotation and fluid intelligence: A brain potential analysis," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 146-157.
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    3. Renata Figueiredo Anomal & Daniel Soares Brandão & Silvia Beltrame Porto & Sóstenes Silva de Oliveira & Rafaela Faustino Lacerda de Souza & José de Santana Fiel & Bruno Duarte Gomes & Izabel Augusta H, 2020. "The role of frontal and parietal cortex in the performance of gifted and average adolescents in a mental rotation task," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(5), pages 1-21, May.
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