Autism study shows oxytocin can reverse social disorders in mice

By Staff Writer

Researchers in Italy are using mice to find out why certain hormones seem to help autistic people improve their social behavior.

Lab researchers often use mice to model humans as they search for new treatments for psychiatric conditions such as autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

Their work has wide application because people with social deficit conditions can have significant difficulties with everyday functioning, and sometimes require therapeutic residential schools for effective treatment.

In the latest advance, scientists at the Institute of Neuroscience in Milan, Italy have found some biological clues that explain how the hormones oxytocin and vasopressin can improve social behavior in autistic humans.

By breeding mice with inactive oxytocin receptor genes, the team tracked the effects of oxytocin. Compared to healthy animals, the special mice showed behavior similar to autistic humans, such as impaired social behavior, increased aggression, reduced cognitive flexibility and resistance to change, according to a study in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Those symptoms disappeared when researchers gave the mice a treatment allowing them to utilize the hormones again.

The authors acknowledged that animals cannot mirror the full complexity of human behavior, but said the study could help researchers to evaluate new drugs for autism, schizophrenia and other disorders.