Blood oxytocin concentration positively predicts contagious yawning behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Michael G Mariscal, Ozge Oztan, Sophie M Rose and 9 others
PMID 31132232WHAT IT FOUND
No significant difference in contagious yawning was found between 34 children with autism and 30 typically developing children.
Lower blood oxytocin predicted fewer contagious yawns in the autism group only. This is a biomarker association, not a treatment result.
Key findings
01In 64 children, including 34 with ASD and 30 typically developing children, there was no significant group difference in contagious yawning or blood oxytocin.
02Contagious yawning was predicted by an interaction between blood oxytocin and group: children with ASD showed fewer contagious yawns as blood oxytocin decreased, while TD children showed no significant relationship.
03Attention did not account for yawn rate, and the oxytocin-yawning relationship remained when attention was included or removed from the model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The main group comparison was null: children with ASD and typically developing children did not differ in contagious yawning or blood oxytocin, so the positive finding is a subgroup interaction rather than a general autism effect. The study included 64 children and was male biased, so it cannot show whether the oxytocin-yawning relationship differs by sex. Blood oxytocin was measured in plasma, and the paper states that whether peripheral oxytocin reflects brain oxytocin activity remains uncertain. Children with ASD were not medication-free; stable medications may have influenced oxytocin or yawning. Participants came from several study populations, and the ASD group was drawn from two cohorts. Attention was measured only as whether the child watched the screen for more than 50% of each trial, not with eye tracking. The study did not test an intervention or measure communication outcomes, so it cannot show that changing oxytocin or yawning improves social communication.
Declared interests
The supplied metadata lists NIH extramural research support and non-U.S. government research support. No author conflict-of-interest statement appears in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that low blood oxytocin causes reduced contagious yawning or that oxytocin is a clinical marker for autism-related empathy deficits. The study was observational, the overall group difference in contagious yawning was not significant, and the oxytocin-yawning relationship appeared only as an exploratory interaction in children with autism.