People questioning their gender identity could be offered brain scans to determine whether they are transgender, according to a new study.

Breakthrough research has revealed for the first time evidence that the brain activity of people who feel they inhabit the wrong body closely resembles that of the gender they want to embrace.

Analysis of around 160 participants showed that biological males with gender dysphoria - the experience of discomfort or distress due to their biological sex - had a brain structure and neurological patterns similar to biological females, and vice versa.

The analysis revealed that the distinct neurological differences are detectable during childhood.

The findings, presented at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting in Barcelona, are likely to provoke controversy among groups who argue gender identity should be matter of personal choice and not medical definition.

However, the scientists behind the new research say their discovery promises doctors a potent new tool with which to offer better advice at an earlier stage.

Currently, children complaining of gender dysphoria typically undergo psychotherapy.

They can also be given hormones which delay puberty so that decisions on further transgender therapy can be made at an older age.

Gender dysphoria affects an estimated one per cent of the population, according to the the Gender Identity Development Service, although rates of diagnosis are increasing due to growing public awareness of the issue.