A Retrospective Window to Early Androgen Exposure - Otoacoustic Emissions

T HIS FINAL CHAPTER AIMS to summarize the main findings of the different studies of this thesis about the neuroendocrinological factors affecting gender identity and the sexual differentiation of the brain and behavior. Methodological considerations and implications are discussed in light of the existing literature. The discussion will conclude with recommendations for the clinical practice and future research. The specific aims of this dissertation were threefold. First, we examined whether and to what extent the neurobiological characteristics of a group of young individuals, diagnosed with Gender Dysphoria (GD), reflected their 145 expressed/experienced gender, rather than their natal sex. As a second objective , we investigated whether pre-/perinatal and pubertal sex hormones exert any organizational and/or activational effects on sex differences of brain structure and function. Our third aim was to explore the contribution of (cross-) sex hormones to the development of sex differences in neuroanatomy and brain function. The studies described in this thesis had as main objective to test the hypothesis of an altered sexual differentiation in – young – individuals with GD, and thus whether variations in sex hormones during critical periods of sexual differentiation contribute to the development of GD in childhood and adolescence.