Came across another academic paper of note. Now vaguely worrying this tumblr will devolve into “S commenting on papers outside her own field of research”, which would be, I don’t know. But I’m sure I will get more gushing over nail polish or the like to balance it. Also I would hate to read my own blog because of rabbit holes?
Anyway, there is this:
http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.4386.html
where they conclude major depressive disorder (MDD) seems to be essentially two different diseases in men and in women. They look at 40+ brains from corpses, analyze gene transcription levels and conclude that out of those genes whose overactivation distinguishes depressed men from non-depressed men, less than 5-10% also distinguish depressed women from non-depressed women. Now, this is major depressive disorder so not just feeling the blues. But I am really struck by how strong that signal is! It’s really like it’s two entirely different systems involved. Small sample, but validating in another dataset, and seeing the same thing in mice. Presumably all the samples are cis.
The reason it is scary is, of course, that it implies there are very different ways in which some mechanisms of stress and coping that take place in the brains of cis men versus cis women. I don’t want there to exist such differences, but if there are, I need to know I function like a woman, not like a man. Which raises the question on how this works. Among few things which really do differ strongly by sex, are sex hormone levels. Then there is the underexplored realm of menstrual cycle-associated depression, and depression as a side effect of some hormonal contraceptives, and also, for that matter, dysphorias reducing upon hormonal replacement therapy.
No way of telling from these results if the differences build on organizational effects (early differentiation) or activation. But it would be very very interesting to see how these genes respond to sex hormone levels – I suspect many of them will be reactive in this regard. And also, of course, curious on whether trans people with MDD, pre or post HRT, resemble their birth-assigned sex or not in this regard. Are these systems of stressedness/coping activated so that they will shift under hormonal transition? Or may they be related to some dysphorias, so that there is an organizational vs activational interaction taking place where certain brains are organized to be able to deploy some coping mechanisms, but provided the wrong circulating sex hormone levels to be able to have the corresponding genes activated? Further research needed.
This concludes todays rant about things way outside my field, drawing way too comprehensive conclusions, and coping with stress and dysphoria by writing a blog post.
lost in transition 