Oxytocin treatment attenuates amygdala activity in autism: a treatment-mechanism study with long-term follow-up.

ABSTRACT: Intranasal administration of the neuropeptide oxytocin (IN-OT) is increasingly considered as a potential treatment for targeting the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the effects of continual use on neural substrates are fairly unexplored and long-term effects are unknown. In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effects of single-dose and multiple-dose IN-OT treatment (4 weeks of daily (24 IU) administrations) on brain activity related to processing emotional states. Thirty-eight adult men with ASD (aged between 18 and 35 years) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging of the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTS) and amygdala regions while processing emotional states from point-light biological motion. In line with prior

SUBMITTER: Bernaerts S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7648620 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature