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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: oxytocin

September 2022
Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results.

Null and Noteworthy: Brain aging, oxytocin pathways, biomarker back-up

by  /  15 September 2022

Null and replicated results in this month’s newsletter tackle aging, a purported pathway for oxytocin’s effects on autistic people, and a possible autism biomarker.

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Oxytocin lessons from autism-linked syndromes: A chat with Christian Schaaf and Ferdinand Althammer

by  /  7 September 2022

Oxytocin therapies have failed to consistently benefit autistic people, but their effects in people with two autism-linked conditions may yield new insights, experts argue.

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August 2022
Scientist Gül Dölen smiles while looking towards the window in her lab's office.

In deep water with Gül Dölen

by  /  3 August 2022

A researcher’s existential crisis led to a scientific breakthrough.

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June 2022
An illustration of DNA sequencing

DNA may hold clues to oxytocin levels in autistic people

by  /  30 June 2022

Genetic factors could help explain why the ‘social hormone’ failed to benefit autistic people in a phase 3 clinical trial last year.

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January 2022
Scans of mouse brain slices showing differences in oxytocin levels

Oxytocin alters brain activity to boost sociability in mice missing autism gene

by  /  20 January 2022

Infusions of the hormone oxytocin may make mice that model autism more social by normalizing their brain activity patterns.

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The connection between oxytocin and autism, explained

by  /  6 January 2022

Oxytocin, cemented in the popular imagination as the “love molecule,” could serve as a treatment for some autistic people who naturally have low levels of the hormone, researchers say.

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October 2021
Photo: A nasal spray bottle sprays upwards.

Intranasal oxytocin ineffective for autism in large trial

by  /  13 October 2021

The hormone is no better than placebo at boosting social behavior in autistic children, according to a new study, but it may still benefit a subset of people with the condition.

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September 2021
Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results

Null and Noteworthy: Null rejection, repetitive behaviors, unsuccessful treatments

by  /  23 September 2021

In this edition of Null and Noteworthy, tests of intranasal oxytocin and an Angelman syndrome treatment fail to see results.

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March 2021
Scanning elecgron micrograph of Faecal bacteria.

Gut microbes shape social behavior in autism mouse model

by  /  26 March 2021

Treating mice missing the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 with a strain of gut bacteria makes them more social but no less hyperactive.

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Nasal sprayer makes a brain shape out of its spray.

How to improve oxytocin research for autism

by ,  /  9 March 2021

To guard against hype, scientists studying oxytocin’s role in autism and its potential as a treatment need to embrace robust theories, rigorous delivery methods and reproducible research practices.

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