14 DAY TRIAL // According to the conclusions of a new scientific study conducted at Yale University, it would appear that the naturally-occurring hormone oxytocin may play an important role in reducing the severity of symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in human children.
Oxytocin is secreted by the pituitary gland in mammals, and plays an important part in modulating brain responses to a variety of environmental cues. Studies have also tied its actions to underlying intimacy in humans, and it is known to be heavily involved in facilitating childbirth.
In the new study, researchers with the School of Medicine at Yale determined that oxytocin can be administered to autistic children via a nasal spray inhalation. It was observed that a single dose of the chemical was sufficient to trigger enhanced brain activity in several key areas of the brain.
ASD children and adults have difficulties processing social information, as well as feelings such as empathy. This is why they appear to remain distant, and are not able to identify themselves with other people, or put themselves in other people's shoes.
The Yale group believes that oxytocin could be employed in future therapies to alleviate these issues, perhaps allowing ASD sufferers to interact more normally with their families and friends. Full details of the study appear in the December 2 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
“This is the first study to evaluate the impact of oxytocin on brain function in children with autism spectrum disorders,” says Yale Child Study Center adjunct assistant professor Ilanit Gordon, the first author of the PNAS paper.
The research “found that brain centers associated with reward and emotion recognition responded more during social tasks when children received oxytocin instead of the placebo. Oxytocin temporarily normalized brain regions responsible for the social deficits seen in children with autism,” he adds.
The investigation was carried out in a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, featuring 17 ASD patients aged 8 to 16 and a half. The senior author of the study was the director of the Center for Translational Developmental Neuroscience at Yale, Kevin Pelphrey.