CULTURE, FAMILY, AND GENDER NONCONFORMITY IN CHILDREN D. M. Watkins and M. Lewis. Department of Psychological Science, dwatkins110@rams.wssu.edu, lewismi@wssu.edu PURPOSE: Children may express gender nonconformity at young ages. Gender nonconformity is the expression of behavior or identity that is inconsistent with social norms for a biological sex within a culture. The purpose of this study was to compare the interviews and documentaries of families including gender non-conforming and transgender children. METHODS: Two primary documentaries were viewed consisting of eleven families. The youth presented in the media ranged in age from five to twenty five. Length of documentaries was one hundred and fifty three minutes and forty eight seconds. The interviews contained in the documentaries included nine European American families and two African American families. Content analysis was conducted in order to obtain thematic information about the children and their families. RESULTS: Gender nonconforming children are a minority group in society. Their gender presentation causes disdain, and often initially, their parents believe it is just a phase. Parents face controversial decisions as it relates to their choice of parenting style and become afraid of how the community will judge the children. Nothing a parent does can change a child’s desire to be who they are, but parents have an impact on the child’s psychological well-being. CONCLUSION: Common issues arise when children’s gender expression violates the culture’s norms for their sex. For children, their desire to freely express their gender becomes a challenge due to community members’ lack of knowledge about gender nonconformity. Perhaps due to cultural reasons, some families (White transporting families) are more likely to be visible in the public via documentary features, public interviews, and panels. There is a lack of visible ethnic/racial diversity in media accounts of gender non-conforming children and their families. Further research is needed to explore gender nonconformity among racially/ethnically diverse children and their families.
THE ALPHA-2 SUBUNIT INFLUENCES A RAPID INHIBITORY EFFECT OF INSULIN ON GABA-A RECEPTORS Daniel B. Williams. Department of Life Sciences; williamsdb@wssu.edu Low concentrations and acute applications of insulin have a rapid, inhibitory effect on GABAA receptor currents in a putative neuronal isoform [α1β2γ2s]. Switching the α1 subunit for the α4 subunit caused significant changes; GABA currents at α4 containing receptors could occur at lower insulin concentrations. Also, insulin inhibited maximal GABA currents at α4 receptors but not α1. I experimented to determine if α2 subunits also influenced the rapid, inhibitory effect of insulin. α2β2γ2s and α2β3γ1 receptors were expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and currents were measured by two-electrode voltage clamp. Both α2 isoforms had typical GABA responses. For responses at maximal GABA, insulin (100 nM) was co-applied with1 mM GABA. These maximal GABA currents were inhibited with an average of -46% at α2β2γ2s receptors, and -45% at α2β3γ1 receptors. To obtain insulin dose response curves, various concentrations of insulin were co-applied with 1 μM GABA (approximate EC30). α2 containing receptors showed a maximal percent effect of -61% and -50% of 1 μM GABA currents at α2β2γ2s and α2β3γ1 isoforms respectively. The effect of insulin fit best as a two site model for each α2 isoform, with IC50’s of 0.08 nM and 18 nM for α2β2γ2s and 1.1 nM and 6 nM for α2β3γ1. These results indicate that α2 containing receptors showed a rapid insulin response that was intermediate between α1 and α4. When comparing the dose responses, generally the α2 containing receptors had percent effects and IC50’s that were between the values seen for α1 and α4 containing isoforms. An analysis of the α subunit intracellular loops revealed differing numbers of potential MAPK phosphorylation sites: none for α1, 1 for α2, and 3 for α4. The number of potential MAPK sites slightly correlates with the IC50’s and percent effects of insulin on the different α isoforms. Phosphorylation of the MAPK sites via the insulin receptor signaling pathway may explain different α subunit responses to low and acute doses of insulin. Originally presented at the 2013 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.
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