[CCoE Notice] CNECS Seminar - October 9 - Lane Strathearn

[Ogmen, Haluk]

CENTER for NEURO-ENGINEERING and COGNITIVE SCIENCE
SEMINAR
The potential role of oxytocin in autism and other disorders of attachment

Lane Strathearn
Department of Pediatrics and Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Baylor College of Medicine / Texas Children's Hospital
Prior studies have shown that the neuropeptide oxytocin enhances social communication in autism, but little is known of its effects on restricted, repetitive behaviors. The Empathizing-Systemizing Theory suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have deficits in empathizing ability, but hyper-acute systemizing abilities, manifest in DSM-5 as "restricted interests and repetitive behaviors." In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover trial, we used automated eye-tracking to examine the effect of intranasal oxytocin on visual systemizing preferences in 16 male youths with ASD, compared with 16 matched-control subjects. Participants viewed 14 slides, each containing 4 related pictures (e.g. people, animals, scenes, or objects) that differed on the degree of organization or structure (“systemization”). Fixation times were compared for pictures on each slide. Unlike control subjects who showed no gaze preference, individuals with ASD preferred to fixate on more highly systemized pictures. Intranasal oxytocin eliminated this difference, suggesting that oxytocin may diminish systemizing preferences and restricted interests in ASD. We have also demonstrated that oxytocin deficits may be seen in disorders of mother-infant attachment, associated with differences in brain reward activation to social cues, using functional MRI.

Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Time: 4PM-5PM
Location: CBB 124

For information, contact: Bhavin R. Sheth, brsheth at uh.edu<mailto:brsheth at uh.edu>
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