French researchers from the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience in Lyon have identified a hormone believed to encourage bonding between babies and their mothers that may help improve social interaction in adults with autism.
As published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers discovered that those given the hormone Oxytocin showed improved understanding of social cues in game simulations and were more attentive to facial expressions.
Angela Sirigu led the study. She noted the potential therapeutic benefits of Oxytocin for adults as well as children with autism. These benefits include both eye contact improvement as well as an increased understanding of how others respond to them, fostering an overall improved ability to learn appropriate social responses.
While the study indicated improvements for adults and children, early introduction of Oxytocin may hold even greater benefits. Said Sirigu, “For instance, if Oxytocin is administered early when the diagnosis is made, we can perhaps change very early the impaired social development of autistic patients.”
“I think it’s going to be a very exciting finding for a lot of people,” commented Alex Martin, chief of cognitive neuropsychology at the United States National Institute of Mental Health.
The study examined two groups of 13 individuals (11 men, 2 women). One group was composed of those with higher-functioning ASD and a control group of the same number of men and women without ASD. For two weeks there was no mediation administered and tests run which included social games and facial expression tests; then Oxytocin was inhaled and the tests rerun.
Brian Field is the National Autism Examiner
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