oxytocin – ASF Weekly Science Podcasts

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Oxytocin treatment for social communication in ASD has been recntlyused by doctors, but mostly used by people using it on their own through a nasal spray. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a huge, if any, effect in randomized clinical trials. This week’s podcast investigates current research in both the oxytocin and vasopressin system in ASD, when changes start, and how oxytocin administration has different effects in autistic women vs. neurotypical women. Once again, clinicians can not assume that what works in people without ASD will work in those with a diagnosis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32341146

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32188502

November 7, 2016November 6, 2016

Precision medicine presents: OXYTOCIN!!!

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Overall, the scientific research examining the efficacy of oxytocin treatment in autism spectrum disorder has been mixed. On a previous podcast, studies in the way the oxytocin receptor was turned on and off were explained which may account for variability in treatment response. This week, two studies in Japan show that specific mutations in the oxytocin receptor product predict who will respond to oxytocin treatment and who will not. Therefore, the oxytocin story is one of the first examples of using genetic findings to push better treatment on an individual level, otherwise known as precision medicine.

June 27, 2016June 27, 2016

Oxytocin: hitting a small nail with a giant sledgehammer?

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This week’s podcast is inspired by a new study in PNAS thatlooked at the role of methylation of the oxytocin receptor in social behavior in people without autism. Together with studies of the brains of people with autism, it suggests that filling the brains with oxytocin may not be the best approach for treating social impairments. Instead, compounds that turn on or turn off the genes that control oxytocin may be more appropriate, and it also may help explain variability in why some people respond to oxytocin treatment, and why others do not. Also, scientific technology has a new way of studying the influence of the environment on brain development.

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

Treatments for social reward in autism: inject it, snort it, or possibly smoke it.

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This week saw two new studies on the “love hormone” called oxytocin. In the first, the IV drip for oxytocin is replaced by a nasal spray. The results are mild and focused on one type of symptom, but exciting and promising nonetheless. The second study investigated how oxytocin works in the brain and shows how it interacts with a chemical called anandamide in a region activated by sex, drugs and food. This may explain why people find social reward pleasurable. It lays the groundwork for other compounds which may enhance social reward, but more studies are needed. Finally, a short recap last week’s podcast where High Risk Baby Siblings researchers are finding that the range of possible issues that kids at risk have isn’t focused just on autism symptoms.