The DOI matches its Crossref record; 123 of the 123 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Oxytocin treatment, circuitry and autism: a critical review of the literature placing oxytocin into the autism context
Abstract
Observed impairment in reciprocal social interaction is a diagnostic hallmark of autism spectrum disorders. There is no effective medical treatment for these problems. Psychological treatments remain costly, time intensive, and developmentally sensitive for efficacy. In this review, we explore the potential of oxytocin-based therapies for social impairments in autism. Evidence shows that acute oxytocin administration improves numerous markers critical to the social circuitry underlying social deficits in autism. Oxytocin may optimize these circuits and enhance reward, motivation, and learning to improve therapeutic outcomes. Despite this, the current evidence of therapeutic benefit from extended oxytocin treatment remains very limited. We highlight complexity in crossing from the laboratory to the autism clinical setting in evaluation of this therapeutic. We discuss a clinical trial approach that provides optimal opportunity for therapeutic response by using personalized methods that better target specific circuitry to define who will obtain benefit, at what stage of development, and the optimal delivery approach for circuitry manipulation. For the autism field, the therapeutic challenges will be resolved by a range of treatment strategies, including greater focus on specific interventions, such as oxytocin, that have a strong basis in the fundamental neurobiology of social behavior. More sophisticated and targeted clinical trials utilizing such approaches are now required, placing oxytocin into the autism context.
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“Several recent studies document first promising results for cholinergic stimulation (150) and oxytocin application (151).”
From Can Bayesian Theories of Autism Spectrum Disorder Help Improve Clinical Practice? (2016) · cites this paper as [151]
In the citing paper
“Several clinical studies have also investigated the potential of intranasal oxytocin as a treatment for socio-cognitive, behavioral, and socio-affective symptoms of ASD. So far, these studies cannot provide a certain conclusion about oxytocin’s therapeutic potential43–47.”
From Randomized clinical trial shows no substantial modulation of empathy-related neural activation by intranasal oxytocin in autism (2021) · cites this paper as [45]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Guastella, A. J., & Hickie, I. B.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Guastella, Adam J.
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-02
- Volume
- 79
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 234-242
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W812470321
- Semantic Scholar
- 6c0b662be91c0e09c0caf039cb7c80bdb01d7198
- Cited by
- 223
- References
- 123
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 24
- FWCI
- 4.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Health and Medical Research Council project (1043664)
- Simons Foundation
- Career Development Fellowship (1061922)
- Australia Fellowship (494914)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Keywords
- oxytocin, autism spectrum disorder, social dysfunction, oxytocin therapy, personalized treatment, clinical translation, social motivation, reward processing
- MeSH terms
- Autistic Disorder, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Oxytocin, Social Behavior, Treatment Outcome
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