The ‘love hormone,’ known adequately as oxytocin, is known to bolster social bonding. Taking this into consideration, KU Leuven researchers conducted an experiment where they administered oxytocin to adult men with autism. They wanted to know if it could help them be more open to close emotional bonds with others. It worked! And it even had long-term positive effects lasting up to a year after the treatment.
The team, led by Professor Kaat Alaerts, recruited 40 individuals with an autism spectrum disorder to participate in their study.
Professor Alaerts explained:
In the first stage, we examined the amount of oxytocin produced by the participants themselves. The subjects also filled out several questionnaires. An analysis of the data revealed that the amount of oxytocin found in the subjects’ saliva was inversely related to their self-reported attachment issues.
In the second stage, the researchers administered oxytocin to the participants through a nasal spray. Then, they examined the long-term effects.
Doctoral student Sylvie Bernaerts, who is the first author of the study in Molecular Autism, explained:
We divided the 40 participants into an experimental group and a control group. The control group received a placebo for four weeks. Over the course of a full year, we also asked the participants to fill out questionnaires on four different occasions. These questionnaires were used to examine the impact of the oxytocin-containing nasal spray on the symptoms of autism.
The results were remarkable! All the participants who’d been given oxytocin for four weeks exhibited positive effects up to a year later. There was a significant change in the need for routines, repetitive behavior, and attachment.
Bernaerts said:
The people in the experimental group reported far less repetitive behavior and also reported fewer problems with forming close relationships.
This study is the first to expose what the long-term effects are of consistently administering oxytocin to people with autism.
Professor Alaerts said:
Participants who took oxytocin every day for four weeks experienced positive effects until up to a year later. That’s a remarkable result.
Oxytocin is already being used in medicine to induce labor or breastfeeding in pregnant women and women who have recently given birth. That’s one reason why women were not recruited for this study. Others being women’s hormonal cycle could influence the test results, and autism is more prevalent in men.
As wonderful as the results were, Professor Alaerts cautions people not to have any expectations regarding oxytocin becoming available as a treatment. He said:
As oxytocin is already being used in medicine, you might think that we can start using it quite soon to address attachment issues or to reduce repetitive behavior in people with autism. The findings we’re presenting today are the result of a first pilot study. A lot of further research needs to be done before oxytocin can be used to treat people with autism.
Maybe someday the love hormone will help people with autism bond, but for now, this study is only the beginning of making that happen.
