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Scientists able to give female rats male brain patterns after birth

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CDX

Member
I thought this would make them transexual, since their brains are similar to that of males.

That's what I thought too. This would be most similar to transsexual rats, not lesbian rats.

Because as far as I'm aware, in humans at least, gay males and lesbian females have the same type of brain patterns that heterosexual males and females have. Although for transsexuals, some (most?) studies have shown that their brain patterns match with their perceived gender, but not their body.

But I'm not 100% familiar with all the latest research, so someone can correct me if I'm wrong.




From reading through the article, they can control whether a male sex rat will behave like a female, or vice versa, which is governed by the brains preoptic area(Or POA), and even though it's rats, Humans have the same area.

So in theory, by doing this to babies you can guarantee the gender matches the sex. They don't mention any side effects in the rats(They mention the immune system, but that's tied to governing brain growth..), what this could mean is that gender dysphoria could be prevented before it even happens.

I guess the argument comes in form whether people who would be gender dysphoric should have the right to choose whether they want to be gender dysphoric or not...but the window of applying this injection is only open when the brain hasn't fully formed, right after birth...

..It's a tough question. I'm sure I've read here and there that gender dysphoric people wouldn't want to wish their situation on others(Correct me if I'm wrong), but..I can see how some would think it unethical.

That is a tough question. I'm not sure how people with gender dysphoria will feel about it.
 
That is a tough question. I'm not sure how people with gender dysphoria will feel about it.

It wouldn't be able to affect them. It would be for their children, and well anyones newborn children. When they're that young as a baby, they probably can't process their gender or what it is, so they would never second guess it..(That is if the injection doesn't wear off, but if it affects the growth of the brain, chances are they wouldn't 'revert' to how they were born..).

Essentially, theoretically, if human trials began tomorrow, and by 2 years they started implementing it in first world countries, and in 10 years old they've figured how to affect all babies...it would mean gender dysphoria would be 'cured' within 100 years...for people with gender dysphoria, a cure means taking hormones and surgery in order to match their correct gender...would they want the choice of altering their brain so that the gender matches the sex?
 

Platy

Member
That is a tough question. I'm not sure how people with gender dysphoria will feel about it.

It is the only psyquiatric condition where you don't cure the brain and you will keep the "don't cure the brain" part if you ask me.

Simples and helthier methods of transition, better social aceptance and laws are better than this.

for people with gender dysphoria, a cure means taking hormones and surgery in order to match their correct gender...would they want the choice of altering their brain so that the gender matches the sex?

No, see the rest of my post
 

Ms.Galaxy

Member
While it is true that some transgender people have similar brain activity and construct as the sex they identify with, gender dysphoria is also connected to a person's concept of self and personality. To give this to a child is extremely unethical as they don't have a full understanding of themselves yet.

I also feel human test trials would show it being extremely dangerous. While rats might have only shown minor side effects, the human mind is different and it could alter personality, cause mental disorders, and even possibly dehumanized them. Again, gender is also connected to a person's concept of self and personality, such a treatment might cause even more anxiety, depression, and stress than it would help.

I'm a transwoman and if I were to be given an option to take a pill to make my gender match my physical body without any side-effect or spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make my physical body match my gender, I wouldn't take the pill. It would be like killing off who I am. I'm not the only transgender person who feels like this too, a lot of us do.
 
While it is true that some transgender people have similar brain activity and construct as the opposite sex they identify with, gender dysphoria is also connected to a person's concept of self and personality. To give this to a child is extremely unethical as they don't have a full understanding of themselves yet.

I also feel human test trials would show it being extremely dangerous. While rats might have only shown minor side effects, the human mind is different and it could alter personality, cause mental disorders, and even possibly dehumanized them. Again, gender is also connected to a person's concept of self and personality. Such a treatment might cause even more anxiety, depression, and stress than it would help.

born with a brain that does not match their physical body is not just a psychological issue, but physiological as well given the brain waves are different. A brain that, due to exposure to certain hormones or genetic makeup, develops with different makeup of their bodies.

yes better social acceptance and laws would be welcome, but giving someone the option to have their brains match their bodies would probably be a good option along with treating with hormones or physical modifications for transition.

depending on how invasive the procedure is, if it ever comes to human use of course, the risks can be weighed. i think the research should be explored. plenty of medical treatments we employ today came from ideas that seemed radical or even ethically questionable at the time.

The risks you mentioned are possible yes, but maybe not. we don't know yet, and scientific progress sometimes requires us to ask hard questions. I'd like to add that the procedure explain in OP relates to modifying genes, and we all know the immune system does not play nice with cells it does not recognize.

relevant discussions like of the entire stem cell research and the like.
 

mollipen

Member
Yeah, wow, this brings up some crazy questions. If we had a test that could tell how the brain identified itself after birth, and then do something to fix those cases where the brain wasn't set the same way as the body, that really seems like the most humane decision to make.

Personally, I wouldn't want that to have happened, because who I see is "me" is the person I am now, not the person I was before. But, of course, I feel that because I was never "fixed". Really, taking all emotion out of it and just going on logic, the easiest and probably best solution would have been to reset my brain to have it see itself as male. Even if the me of today hates the idea of being that.
 

Platy

Member
Would be hilarious to see the puritans seeing that as a cure for transexuality ... suddenly 3 year olds are able to decide on their sex and don't need medical opinion and can't change their minds or something like that xD
 

Anura

Member
If I was given this option I don't think I would take it... The guy that would come out on the other side might be happy but that guy wouldn't be me
 

BajiBoxer

Banned
If I was given this option I don't think I would take it... The guy that would come out on the other side might be happy but that guy wouldn't be me
Yeah, to be a humane thing I think it would have to be something done extremely early before you are you. Maybe if the conditions could be identified in the womb and preventive measures taken. I think neuroscience and medicine has a looooong way to go to reach a stage where you could do something like this safely in a human being though, if it is even a reasonable thing to put into practice. Making the body match the mind will probably be the more rational way to go about things for quite awhile.
 

YoungHav

Banned
Hypothetically speaking. If they made all human baby brains female, would men stop being aggressive? World peace finally?
 
Well, I don't think the logical choice would necessarily just be using it on transgender children, but using it on EVERY baby to "lock in" the psychological patterns of their biological sex. That is, give male babies the boy injection and vice versa.

That's if we're contemplating using it for that purpose.
 

YoungHav

Banned
You say that like aggression is purely a male/masculine trait; it isn't.
I know that. But testosterone seems to contribute to parody levels of aggression and suffering. I don't see an all female planet taking part in ethnic cleansing, rampant income inequality etc... I am not sound in biology or the sciences in general. This is why I ask.
 

A lot about what makes the brain do what it does is still unknown. Consciousness and more specifically personality, seem to be aspects of the brain that are greater than the sum of their parts. Knowing more about what causes certain behavior is just another step towards understanding. Science, Mr White.
 
I don't see an all female planet taking part in ethnic cleansing, rampant income inequality etc... I am not sound in biology or the sciences in general. This is why I ask.

You don't see it because it does not exist, not because women would magically not be complete shit to each other.
 

kirblar

Member
I know that. But testosterone seems to contribute to parody levels of aggression and suffering. I don't see an all female planet taking part in ethnic cleansing, rampant income inequality etc... I am not sound in biology or the sciences in general. This is why I ask.
You would be giving them male brain patterns, not taking away their testosterone production.

Also, no - shitty people would still be shitty people.
 
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