Apparently, the Love Hormone Could Help People with Austism Cope Better in Social Situations

photo: loveisoxytocin.com

Psychological - A blast of the so-called love hormone could help people with autism interact better in social situations. Scientist have discovered that oxytocin helped adults better understand emotions and facial expressions. A key characteristic of autism is the inability to deal well with social situations and an apparent lack of interest or care for others.

Oxytocin, often referred to as the 'cuddle or trust hormone', is produced by women during pregnancy, birth and in the production of milk for breastfeeding. It has previously been linked with treatments of people with social and mood disorders. In the new study, Japanese researches found even one dose of the hormone boosted activity in an area of the brain that processes emotion and empathy, quoted by Health Day.

Till now, the treatment has been shown to help those with 'high functioning autism' - that is they have better communication skills than some others with the condition. But the University of Tokyo researches say their study indicates oxytocin may also benefits those with low-functioning autism. This is because these people rely more heavily on non verbal cues such as facial expressions.

The team drew their conclusions after studying 40 men with high-functioning autism, given oxytocin via nasal spray. Scans 90 minutes later revealed the level of activity in the brain responsible for emotional processing had increased.

The patients were then given a task-to decide whatever a film character was good or evil-from speech but also non-verbal signs. And ocytocin did help the men interpret someone's character more accurately, the researchers said. 'Therefore, autistic people with deficits in non verbal communation and interaction benefit from oxytocin administrition,' said study co-author Hidenori Yamasue. The impact of the hormone could also be seen in about 20 minutes, he added. But how long the effects lasts needs further investigations.

The search was published online in the journal Molecular Psychiatry. Previous French research has found those with autism given the spray became more sociable and trusting. Thirteen people with high-functioning autism quickly became better at reading other people's emotions and making eye contact after inhaling the hormone.

The study was carried out by French scientist who said that when the effects were short-lived the spray had  meanwhile U.S researchers have found oxytocin can imprive they social skills of monkeys. The hormone made usually-selfish primates offer a drink of fruit juice to other monkeys during  research at University of Duke in Durham, North California.

reference: dailymail.co.uk