title: Intranasal Oxytocin Enhances Connectivity in the Neural Circuitry Supporting Social Motivation and Social Perception in Children with Autism.
abstract: Oxytocin (OT) has become a focus in investigations of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The social deficits that characterize ASD may relate to reduced connectivity between brain sites on the mesolimbic reward pathway (nucleus accumbens; amygdala) that receive OT projections and contribute to social motivation, and cortical sites involved in social perception. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, we show that OT administration in ASD increases activity in brain regions important for perceiving social-emotional information. Further, OT enhances connectivity between nodes of the brain's reward and socioemotional processing systems, and does so preferentially for social (versus nonsocial) stimuli. This effect is observed both while viewing coherent versus scrambled biological motion, and while listening to happy versus angry voices. Our findings suggest a mechanism by which intranasal OT may bolster social motivation-one that could, in future, be harnessed to augment behavioral treatments for ASD.
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.|Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilanit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, George Washington University, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Charlotte M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pretzsch
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Brent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Vander Wyk
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Leckman
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.|Department of Psychology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Feldman
authors.affiliation: Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Institute, George Washington University, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Kevin A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Pelphrey
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000293:Adolescent; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation / Q000187:drug effects*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000494:pharmacology; D012938:Social Perception
chemical_list: D010121:Oxytocin