Oxytocin impacts top-down and bottom-up social perception in adolescents with ASD: a MEG study of neural connectivity.
Adi Korisky, Ilanit Gordon, Abraham Goldstein
PMID 36064612WHAT IT FOUND
A single dose of oxytocin changed brain connectivity patterns in adolescents with autism, but did not improve face recognition speed or accuracy.
The neural changes correlated with autism severity, yet the study was too small to recommend oxytocin for clinical use.
Key findings
01Oxytocin increased connectivity in alpha and beta bands and decreased it in the low-gamma band during social and non-social face processing.
02There was no significant difference in reaction times or accuracy between the oxytocin and placebo sessions.
03Individuals with higher autism severity scores (ADOS) showed a positive correlation between oxytocin administration and improved accuracy in social trials compared to placebo.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (24 participants), limiting the generalizability of the findings. The study included only male adolescents with high-functioning autism (IQ > 80), so results do not apply to females or individuals with intellectual disabilities. The behavioral primary outcomes were null, meaning oxytocin did not improve task performance. The study used a single dose of oxytocin, so it cannot determine the effects of long-term administration.
Declared interests
Funded by the Israel Society for Neuroscience. The authors declare no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the neural connectivity changes as evidence that oxytocin improves social functioning. The behavioral measures showed no significant improvement in accuracy or reaction time, and the study was too small to confirm any clinical benefit.