Centre de Neuroscience Cognitive, Unité Mixte de Recherche 5229, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 69675 Bron, France.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Mar 2;107(9):4389-94. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0910249107. Epub 2010 Feb 16.
Social adaptation requires specific cognitive and emotional competences. Individuals with high-functioning autism or with Asperger syndrome cannot understand or engage in social situations despite preserved intellectual abilities. Recently, it has been suggested that oxytocin, a hormone known to promote mother-infant bonds, may be implicated in the social deficit of autism. We investigated the behavioral effects of oxytocin in 13 subjects with autism. In a simulated ball game where participants interacted with fictitious partners, we found that after oxytocin inhalation, patients exhibited stronger interactions with the most socially cooperative partner and reported enhanced feelings of trust and preference. Also, during free viewing of pictures of faces, oxytocin selectively increased patients' gazing time on the socially informative region of the face, namely the eyes. Thus, under oxytocin, patients respond more strongly to others and exhibit more appropriate social behavior and affect, suggesting a therapeutic potential of oxytocin through its action on a core dimension of autism.
社会适应需要特定的认知和情感能力。尽管高功能自闭症或阿斯伯格综合征患者具有智力能力，但他们无法理解或参与社交情境。最近，有人提出催产素（一种已知可促进母婴关系的激素）可能与自闭症的社交缺陷有关。我们调查了催产素对 13 名自闭症患者的行为影响。在一项模拟球赛中，参与者与虚构的伙伴互动，我们发现，吸入催产素后，患者与最具社会合作性的伙伴表现出更强的互动，报告称信任感和偏好增强。此外，在自由观看面部图片时，催产素选择性地增加了患者对面部具有社交信息区域（即眼睛）的注视时间。因此，在催产素的作用下，患者对他人的反应更强烈，表现出更恰当的社交行为和情绪，这表明催产素通过其对自闭症核心维度的作用具有治疗潜力。
