Oxytocin and autism

Abstract

Disturbed social interaction is a central feature of autism and the source of many of the everyday impairments of patients, their relatives and their caregivers. Therefore, it made and still makes sense to study the neurobiology of social function. In addition to helping us understand the disorder, this also holds promise for defining targets that could lead to new and more targeted treatments. An excellent candidate for this approach is oxytocin (OT), a hormone that is central to social processes throughout the animal kingdom, especially for attachment other so-called "prosocial behaviors". In this chapter, we first review the evidence for the neurobiological function of OT in humans, which is now coming together. Then, we review emerging evidence that OT and the neural and hormonal systems to which it is linked are abnormal in autism. Finally, we discuss attempts to use OT to treat autism.