A dose of 'love hormone,' oxytocin, could help autistic children socialize better, a latest study by Yale Child Study Center researchers says.
Behavioral therapists could use oxytocin as a treatment option for autistic children.
"This is the first study to evaluate the impact of oxytocin on brain function in children with autism spectrum disorders," study author Ilanit Gordon, a Yale Child Study Center postdoctoral fellow, said in a news release.
The researchers observed 17 autistic children with the condition. They were aged between eight and 16.5. Some were given oxytocin sprays and others were put on placebo nasal spray. The authors then scanned the brains of the participants via MRI 45 minutes after the sprays.
"We found that brain centers associated with reward and emotion recognition responded more during social tasks when children received oxytocin instead of the placebo," said Gordon. "Oxytocin temporarily normalized brain regions responsible for the social deficits seen in children with autism."
The researchers, however, said that they did not find any improvement in the cognitive skills of the children with autism.
"Over time, what you would expect to see is more appropriate social responding, being more interested in interacting with other people, more eye contact and more conversational ability," said Kevin Pelphrey, director of the child neuroscience lab at Yale University, according to The Guardian.
"Our results are particularly important considering the urgent need for treatments to target social dysfunction in autism spectrum disorders," Gordon concluded.
The findings are published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
