All in the mind: Could the study hint at a predetermined image of our gender that we have in our minds before birth?
CANBERRA: Similar to the phantom limb syndrome, the sensation of a 'phantom penis' in post-operative heterosexual and transsexual men is providing insights into the how gender-specific body images are hard-wired at birth.
Experts at the University of California in San Diego, USA, found that 60 per cent of interviewed heterosexual men who had their genitals surgically removed following cancer claimed to continue to experience the sensation of having a penis.
Presence of phantoms
Intriguingly, the same study showed that only 30 per cent of originally male transsexuals, whose genitals had been removed as part of gender reassignment, reported the same phenomenon.
"We explain the absence or presence of phantoms in these subjects by postulating a hardwired gender-specific body image in the brain that does not match the external [birth] gender" said lead author and phantom limb expert Vilayanur Ramachandran. He argues that before birth the brain may develop an image of the body that may not necessarily match the physiological outcome.
The research was reported by psychologist and co-author Paul McGeoch at the 2007 meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society held in New York City, and is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Consciousness Studies.
Surgically removed
To collect data, the researchers interviewed men who had their penises removed in surgery – either as a medical necessity following genital cancer or as part of gender reassignment surgery. But they also interviewed female-to-male transsexuals.
The survey showed that aside from the fact that male-to-female transsexuals were less likely to report the phenomenon of a phantom penis than heterosexuals, 60 per cent of female-to-male transsexuals interviewed reported the sensation of phantom penises since early childhood.
