Oxytocin increases retention of social cognition in autism

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Oxytocin in this randomized controlled trial publication.

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.

Who Took Part

The study group was 15 subjects.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were adults and middle-aged adults, both men and women.

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.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Oxytocin and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the subjects nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Oxytocin, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some subjects received a placebo instead of Oxytocin, giving a reference point.

Each person switched between Oxytocin and the comparison at some point, usually with a gap in between.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Analysis of Variance, Asperger Syndrome, Autistic Disorder, Cognition, Comprehension, Oxytocics and Oxytocin.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Oxytocin in 15 subjects.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 3 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2007 (Biological psychiatry), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Oxytocin compound page, all human trials.