dreamer_easy: (books)
dreamer_easy ([personal profile] dreamer_easy) wrote2008-04-08 01:36 pm
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The cover story of the latest edition of the Journal of Consciousness Studies is the eye-catching "Phantom Penises in Transsexuals: Evidence of an Innate Gender-Specific Body Image in the Brain" (abstract here). Now, the phenomenon of "phantom limbs" in amputees is well-known; 60% of men who have had their penises removed experience this, but only 30% of male-to-female transsexuals experience it after their operation. Which is interesting enough, but 60% of female-to-male transsexuals also report experiencing a vivid "phantom penis", including phantom erections - in may cases, since childhood. This leads the researchers to speculate there's a "hard-wired" image of the body, including its physical sex, in the brain. Extremely interesting stuff.

ETA much later: a 2010 followup disputes their calculations.

[identity profile] kateorman.livejournal.com 2008-04-11 12:10 am (UTC)(link)
If someone patents that latter, they're going to make a fortune.