Science Notebook in Today's Times - Oxytocin

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Science Notebook

The Times December 11, 2006

Oxytocin, the " trust " hormone associated with pair bonding, can

reduce the symptoms of autism in adults. Hollander, of the Mount

Sinai School of Medicine in New York, took 15 adults with autism and

gave some of them an intravenous infusion of oxytocin and the rest an

intravenous placebo. Those given the hormone had reduced repetitive

behaviours associated with autism, such as touching, arranging items

in order and repeating a word or phrase.

The oxytocin group was also better at detecting the emotional nuances

in taped speech; this ability persisted a fortnight after the hormone

was given. Dr Hollander, who presented his results to the American

College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Nashville, says that the

research is promising but gives warning that larger trials are

needed, as are safety studies of the effects of oxytocin on children.