Oxytocin increases retention of social cognition in autism.
BACKGROUND
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.


METHODS
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.


RESULTS
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Hollander
Eric
E
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA. eric.hollander@mssm.edu
Bartz
Jennifer
J
Chaplin
William
W
Phillips
Ann
A
Sumner
Jennifer
J
Soorya
Latha
L
Anagnostou
Evdokia
E
Wasserman
Stacey
S
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D020817:Asperger Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000187:drug effects; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010120:Oxytocics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012153:Retention, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects*; D012919:Social Behavior; D013060:Speech / Q000187:drug effects
D010120:Oxytocics; D010121:Oxytocin