Stress Reactivity and Cognitive Functioning of Transgender and Gender Diverse People

性激素驱动生物行为对压力反应的可变性。迄今为止，变性人（trans*）的应激反应还没有被研究过。这一研究途径对于帮助科学家描述这一高度边缘化群体的压力和恢复过程至关重要。此外，跨性别者提供了一个独特的视角来描述生理性别、性激素和社会文化性别认同对压力生理和认知功能的影响。我们的目标是招募变性女性和变性男性，将他们与顺性（性别认同与出生性别相对应）对照组进行比较。所有参与者将暴露于实验室应激源，以诱导内分泌和心血管反应。此外，还将评估认知功能，以检测陈述性记忆和两性二态认知能力中与压力相关的损伤。详细的自我报告将补充所有参与者的性激素（睾酮、雌二醇、黄体酮）唾液评估，以确定脆弱性或恢复力的个体差异。我们假设跨性别者会表现出压力反应特征和认知能力，这是他们正在过渡的性别所特有的，而不是天生的性别。因此，我们预计变性男性的反应会更像顺性男性，而变性女性的反应会更像顺性女性。该项目将为未来评估多系统生理失调（适应负荷）和调节应激反应和认知功能的神经区域（如海马、杏仁核和额叶皮质）的脑成像提供初步数据支持。通过评估跨性别者的性别认同与压力生理之间的关系，我们的新研究项目将扩大对性别/性别调节压力和认知过程的理解。这项NSERC发现资助将支持5名理学士、2名硕士（2-5年级）和2名博士（1-5年级）。NSERC的支持将为来自少数民族和多数民族背景的国内和国际招聘的HQP扩大培训机会。总而言之，我们的目标是1)评估内分泌（压力和性激素）和心血管反应，2)评估认知功能，以及3)与顺性对照组相比，确定跨性别者的复原力因素。我们的研究项目在加拿大是独一无二的，适用于少数民族和多数人口。NSERC的支持是CESAR研究性别/性别如何调节压力、认知和恢复力的重要的第一步。

Sex hormones drive variability in biobehavioral responsivity to stress. To date, the stress reactivity of transgender (trans*) people has not been explored. This research avenue is critical to help scientists delineate stress and resilience processes among this highly marginalized group. Moreover, trans* people provide a unique lens from which to delineate the effect that biological sex, sex hormones, and socio-cultural gender-identity in relation to stress physiology and cognitive functioning. We aim to recruit trans* women and trans* men who will be compared to cisgender (gender-identity corresponds with birth-assigned sex) controls. All participants will be exposed to a laboratory stressor to induce endocrine and cardiovascular reactivity. In addition, cognitive functioning will be assessed to detect stress-related impairments in declarative memory as well as sexually dimorphic cognitive abilities. Detailed self-reports will complement salivary assessment of sex hormones (testosterone, estradiol, progesterone) of all participants to determine individual differences in vulnerability or resilience. We hypothesize that trans* people will exhibit stress reactive profiles and cognitive abilities typically observed for the gender they are transitioning towards rather than birth-assigned sex. We therefore expect that trans* men will react more like cisgender men while trans* women will react more like cisgender women. This project will provide preliminary data for future grant support to assess multi-systemic physiological dysregulations (allostatic load) and brain imaging of neural regions that regulate stress reactivity and cognitive functioning such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and frontal cortex. By assessing how gender identity relates to stress physiology among trans* people, our novel research program will expand broader understanding of sex/gender modulation of stress and cognitive processes. This NSERC Discovery grant will support 5 BSc students, 2 MSc students (Years 2-5), and 2 PhD students (Years 1-5). NSERC support will expand the training opportunities for nationally and internationally recruited HQP coming from minority and majority backgrounds. To summarize, our objectives are to 1) assess endocrine (stress and sex hormones) and cardiovascular reactivity, 2) assess cognitive functioning, and 3) identify resilience factors among trans* people in contrast to a cisgender control group. Our research program is truly unique in Canada and has applications to minority and majority populations. NSERC support is an essential first step for CESAR into the study of how sex/gender modulates stress, cognition, and resilience.