oxytocin and Asperger-Syndrome

Autism spectrum conditions (autism) affect ~1% of the population and are characterized by deficits in social communication. Oxytocin has been widely reported to affect social-communicative function and its neural underpinnings. Here we report the first evidence that intranasal oxytocin administration improves a core problem that individuals with autism have in using eye contact appropriately in real-world social settings. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subjects design is used to examine how intranasal administration of 24 IU of oxytocin affects gaze behavior for 32 adult males with autism and 34 controls in a real-time interaction with a researcher. This interactive paradigm bypasses many of the limitations encountered with conventional static or computer-based stimuli. Eye movements are recorded using eye tracking, providing an objective measurement of looking patterns. The measure is shown to be sensitive to the reduced eye contact commonly reported in autism, with the autism group spending less time looking to the eye region of the face than controls. Oxytocin administration selectively enhanced gaze to the eyes in both the autism and control groups (transformed mean eye-fixation difference per second=0.082; 95% CI:0.025-0.14, P=0.006). Within the autism group, oxytocin has the most effect on fixation duration in individuals with impaired levels of eye contact at baseline (Cohen's d=0.86). These findings demonstrate that the potential benefits of oxytocin in autism extend to a real-time interaction, providing evidence of a therapeutic effect in a key aspect of social communication.

Topics: Administration, Intranasal; Adolescent; Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Autistic Disorder; Case-Control Studies; Double-Blind Method; Eye Movement Measurements; Fixation, Ocular; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Male; Middle Aged; Oxytocics; Oxytocin; Social Behavior; Social Skills; Young Adult

The neuropeptide oxytocin has recently been shown to enhance eye gaze and emotion recognition in healthy men. Here, we report a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that examined the neural and behavioral effects of a single dose of intranasal oxytocin on emotion recognition in individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS), a clinical condition characterized by impaired eye gaze and facial emotion recognition. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined whether oxytocin would enhance emotion recognition from facial sections of the eye vs the mouth region and modulate regional activity in brain areas associated with face perception in both adults with AS, and a neurotypical control group. Intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin improved performance in a facial emotion recognition task in individuals with AS. This was linked to increased left amygdala reactivity in response to facial stimuli and increased activity in the neural network involved in social cognition. Our data suggest that the amygdala, together with functionally associated cortical areas mediate the positive effect of oxytocin on social cognitive functioning in AS.

Topics: Administration, Intranasal; Amygdala; Analysis of Variance; Asperger Syndrome; Bias; Case-Control Studies; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Drug Administration Schedule; Emotions; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Oxygen; Oxytocin; Pattern Recognition, Visual; Photic Stimulation; Recognition, Psychology

Oxytocin dysfunction might contribute to the development of social deficits in autism, a core symptom domain and potential target for intervention. This study explored the effect of intravenous oxytocin administration on the retention of social information in autism.. Oxytocin and placebo challenges were administered to 15 adult subjects diagnosed with autism or Asperger's disorder, and comprehension of affective speech (happy, indifferent, angry, and sad) in neutral content sentences was tested.. All subjects showed improvements in affective speech comprehension from pre- to post-infusion; however, whereas those who received placebo first tended to revert to baseline after a delay, those who received oxytocin first retained the ability to accurately assign emotional significance to speech intonation on the speech comprehension task.. These results are consistent with studies linking oxytocin to social recognition in rodents as well as studies linking oxytocin to prosocial behavior in humans and suggest that oxytocin might facilitate social information processing in those with autism. These findings also provide preliminary support for the use of oxytocin in the treatment of autism.

Topics: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Asperger Syndrome; Autistic Disorder; Cognition; Comprehension; Cross-Over Studies; Double-Blind Method; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Oxytocics; Oxytocin; Retention, Psychology; Social Behavior; Speech

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by dysfunction in three core behavioral domains: repetitive behaviors, social deficits, and language abnormalities. There is evidence that abnormalities exist in peptide systems, particularly the oxytocin system, in autism spectrum patients. Furthermore, oxytocin and the closely related peptide vasopressin are known to play a role in social and repetitive behaviors. This study examined the impact of oxytocin on repetitive behaviors in 15 adults with autism or Asperger's disorder via randomized double-blind oxytocin and placebo challenges. The primary outcome measure was an instrument rating six repetitive behaviors: need to know, repeating, ordering, need to tell/ask, self-injury, and touching. Patients with autism spectrum disorders showed a significant reduction in repetitive behaviors following oxytocin infusion in comparison to placebo infusion. Repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorders may be related to abnormalities in the oxytocin system, and may be partially ameliorated by synthetic oxytocin infusion.

Topics: Adult; Asperger Syndrome; Autistic Disorder; Blood Pressure; Body Temperature; Double-Blind Method; Female; Humans; Infusions, Intravenous; Male; Oxytocin; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Pulse; Treatment Outcome

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders of complex etiology, with a recognized substantial contribution of heterogeneous genetic factors; one of the core features of ASD is a lack of affiliative behaviors.. On the basis of the existing literature, in this study we examined the hypothesis of allelic associations between genetic variants in six genes involved in control of maternal and affiliative behaviors (OXT, OXTR, PRL, PRLR, DbetaH, and FOSB). One hundred and seventy-seven probands with ASD from 151 families (n = 527) were assessed with a set of related instruments capturing multiple facets of ASD. Multivariate and univariate phenotypes were constructed from these assessments and subjected to genetic linkage and association analyses with PBAT and FBAT software.. The resulting pattern of findings, in general, confirmed the hypotheses of the significance of the genes involved in the development of affiliative behaviors in the manifestation of ASD (p values ranging from .000005 to .05); statistically speaking, the strongest results were obtained for allelic associations with the PRL, PRLR, and OXTR genes.. These preliminary data provide additional support for the hypothesis that the allelic variants of genes necessary for the development of species-typical affiliative behaviors are associated with ASD. Independent replication of these findings is needed and studies of other genes associated with affiliative behaviors are indicated.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Asperger Syndrome; Autistic Disorder; Behavior; Child; Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; Family Health; Female; Genetic Linkage; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetic Variation; Genotype; Humans; Male; Organizational Affiliation; Oxytocin; Prolactin; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; Receptors, Oxytocin; Receptors, Prolactin