Ilanit Gordon, Brent C Vander Wyk, Randi H Bennett, Cara Cordeaux, Molly V Lucas, Jeffrey A Eilbott, Orna Zagoory-Sharon, James F Leckman, Ruth Feldman, Kevin A Pelphrey
Following intranasal administration of oxytocin (OT), we measured, via functional MRI, changes in brain activity during judgments of socially (Eyes) and nonsocially (Vehicles) meaningful pictures in 17 children with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 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, left posterior superior temporal sulcus, and left premotor cortex, OT increased activity during social judgments and decreased activity during nonsocial judgments...
December 24, 2013: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America