Are the Neural Attunement Effects of Oxytocin Related to Naturalistic Changes in Communicative Behavior Following Administration to Children with ASD?

Background:  Discoveries regarding the behavioral impact of acutely modulating the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) have led to exciting avenues for translational research efforts in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Novel reports on the neural mechanism involved in intranasal administration of OT to individuals with ASD highlight OT’s positive impact on key nodes of “the social brain” such as the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex. Despite the highly significant effects OT seems to have on brain function, behavioral results at times have been modest, especially when measured within the context of brain imaging paradigms or when OT is given chronically. Considering the positive impact acute manipulation of OT has had on various social behaviors, such as emotion recognition and theory of mind, it is crucial to achieve a crystalized understanding of the associations between the neural impact of intranasal OT and the resulting changes in naturalistic social-communicative behaviors in ASD.

Objectives: In an fMRI study, we aimed to pinpoint the neural mechanism underlying a single OT administration in children with ASD. We further aim to identify and describe the associated impact of OT on communicative behaviors in naturalistic social interaction settings. We expect neural effects of OT administration to be positively related to improvements in patterns of social behavior, such as eye gaze pattern and positive affect, during interactions with participants' parents. We hypothesize that interactions between children and parents will become more synchronized with the social partners in line with the neural impact on brain function after OT administration.

Methods: Seventeen children with ASD (ages 7-18) received acute administration of OT in this placebo-controlled study of changes in brain activity and behavior. Following OT, a behavioral interaction between youth and their parents was recorded and an fMRI scan ensued in which a well-validated fMRI paradigm for social processing was presented. fMRI data was analyzed to assess the neural impact of OT. We are currently micro-analyzing videotaped behavioral interactions between youth and their parents for aspects of social functioning, such as gaze patterns, arousal, proximity, touch, repetitive behaviors and self-regulatory functions. 

Results: Results from brain function analysis indicate that OT increased activity in the striatum, the middle frontal gyrus, the medial prefrontal cortex, the right orbitofrontal cortex, and the left superior temporal sulcus. In the striatum, nucleus accumbens, the left posterior superior temporal sulcus, and the left premotor cortex, oxytocin increased activity during social judgments and decreased activity during non-social judgments. All of these regions have previously been implicated in their involvement in social perception and cognition, mentalizing abilities, and theory of mind. We will also present first-ever reported behavioral outcomes micro-analyzed from videotaped parent-child interactions and their association with brain imaging results. 

Conclusions: These results will provide essential and critical steps in the integrative understanding of the neural and behavioral impact a single administration of intranasal OT has in youth with ASD. This will advance novel and more effective treatments for core social deficits in ASD.