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Promoting social behavior with oxytocin in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders

Elissar Andari, Jean-René Duhamel, Tiziana Zalla, Evelyn Herbrecht, Marion Leboyer and Angela Sirigu
PNAS February 16, 2010. 200910249; published ahead of print February 16, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0910249107
Elissar Andari
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Jean-René Duhamel
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Tiziana Zalla
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Evelyn Herbrecht
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Marion Leboyer
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Angela Sirigu
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  1. Edited by Leslie G. Ungerleider, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, and approved January 7, 2010 (received for review September 8, 2009)

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Abstract

Social adaptation requires specific cognitive and emotional competences. Individuals with high-functioning autism or with Asperger syndrome cannot understand or engage in social situations despite preserved intellectual abilities. Recently, it has been suggested that oxytocin, a hormone known to promote mother-infant bonds, may be implicated in the social deficit of autism. We investigated the behavioral effects of oxytocin in 13 subjects with autism. In a simulated ball game where participants interacted with fictitious partners, we found that after oxytocin inhalation, patients exhibited stronger interactions with the most socially cooperative partner and reported enhanced feelings of trust and preference. Also, during free viewing of pictures of faces, oxytocin selectively increased patients’ gazing time on the socially informative region of the face, namely the eyes. Thus, under oxytocin, patients respond more strongly to others and exhibit more appropriate social behavior and affect, suggesting a therapeutic potential of oxytocin through its action on a core dimension of autism.

  • cognition
  • neurodevelopmental disorder
  • recovery
  • Syntocinon

Footnotes

  • 1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sirigu{at}isc.cnrs.fr.
  • Author contributions: E.A. and A.S. designed research; E.A., J.-R.D., T.Z., E.H., M.L., and A.S. performed research; E.A., J.-R.D., and A.S. analyzed data; and E.A., J.-R.D., and A.S. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0910249107/DCSupplemental.

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Promoting social behavior with oxytocin in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders
Elissar Andari, Jean-René Duhamel, Tiziana Zalla, Evelyn Herbrecht, Marion Leboyer, Angela Sirigu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2010, 200910249; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0910249107

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Promoting social behavior with oxytocin in high-functioning autism spectrum disorders
Elissar Andari, Jean-René Duhamel, Tiziana Zalla, Evelyn Herbrecht, Marion Leboyer, Angela Sirigu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Feb 2010, 200910249; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0910249107
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