Nature 378, 68 - 70 (02 November 1995); doi:10.1038/378068a0

A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality

Jiang-Ning Zhou^*, Michel A. Hofman^*, Louis J. G. Gooren^† & Dick F. Swaab^*‡

^*Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Meibergdreef 33, 1105 AZ Amsterdam ZO, The Netherlands
^† Department of Endocrinology, Free University Hospital, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands
^‡ To whom correspondence should be addressed.

TRANSSEXUALS have the strong feeling, often from childhood onwards, of having been born the wrong sex. The possible psycho-genie or biological aetiology of transsexuality has been the subject of debate for many years^1,2. Here we show that the volume of the central subdivision of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc), a brain area that is essential for sexual behaviour^3,4, is larger in men than in women. A female-sized BSTc was found in male-to-female transsexuals. The size of the BSTc was not influenced by sex hormones in adulthood and was independent of sexual orientation. Our study is the first to show a female brain structure in genetically male transsexuals and supports the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones^5,6.

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