The DOI matches its Crossref record; 158 of the 158 references it cites were found in a registry or an index; none of the 115 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.
Integrative Approaches Utilizing Oxytocin to Enhance Prosocial Behavior: From Animal and Human Social Behavior to Autistic Social Dysfunction
Open accessAbstract
The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is as high as 1 in 100 individuals and is a heavy burden to society. Thus, identifying causes and treatments is imperative. Here, we briefly review the topics covered in our 2012 Society for Neuroscience Mini-Symposium entitled “Integrative Approaches Using Oxytocin to Enhance Prosocial Behavior: From Animal and Human Social Behavior to ASD's Social Dysfunction.” This work is not meant to be a comprehensive review of oxytocin and prosocial behavior. Instead, we wish to share the newest findings on the effects of oxytocin on social behavior, the brain, and the social dysfunction of ASD at the molecular, genetic, systemic, and behavior levels, in varied subjects ranging from animal models to humans suffering from autism for the purpose of promoting further study for developing the clinical use of oxytocin in treating ASD.
Overview
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Written from the paper’s full text.
TL;DR
This mini-review integrates animal, human nonclinical, genetic, neuroimaging, and clinical evidence on oxytocin’s role in prosocial behavior and autistic social dysfunction. It argues that oxytocin is a promising but not yet clinically established treatment for ASD social deficits, with mechanisms and long-term safety still unresolved.
Key findings
- ASD prevalence is reported as at least 1 in 100 people, and there is no established pharmacological treatment for social dysfunction, the core feature of ASD.
- In prairie voles, systemic oxytocin pretreatment before a flooded-cage stressor increased sedentary social contact after return to the home cage, elevated plasma oxytocin 95 min after injection, and produced functional coupling between the paraventricular nucleus and cardioregulatory brainstem areas; an oxytocin antagonist decoupled this activity.
- In a double-blind, placebo-controlled fMRI study of 91 men aged 18–22 years (mean 20.2; oxytocin n=27, vasopressin n=27, placebo n=36), intranasal oxytocin increased caudate nucleus response to reciprocated cooperation, positively correlated with plasma oxytocin, enhanced left amygdala activation, decreased amygdala–brainstem functional connectivity, and increased amygdala connectivity with ventral anterior insula and inferior lateral temporal cortex.
- In ASD clinical studies cited, intravenous oxytocin reduced repetitive behavior in 15 medication-free adults with ASD, intranasal oxytocin improved “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” performance in male youths with ASD, and intranasal oxytocin enhanced trust, preference, and eye-gaze time with a socially cooperative partner; OXTR variants rs53576 and rs2254298 have been linked to socioemotional functioning and ASD susceptibility, though with inconsistencies.
Methods
- Design: narrative mini-review and summary of the authors’ 2012 Society for Neuroscience Mini-Symposium, explicitly not a comprehensive review of oxytocin and prosocial behavior.
- Data/sample: synthesizes findings from animal models, healthy human pharmacological challenge studies, molecular genetics, imaging genetics, and clinical ASD studies; no new primary data are collected.
- Main analysis: qualitative cross-level integration of molecular, genetic, systemic, neural, behavioral, and clinical evidence, ranging from animal models to humans with autism.
Limitations
- Stated in the paper: little is known about the mechanistic effects of oxytocin on social brain circuits; the neural mechanisms by which oxytocin improves autistic behavior are unknown; further large-scale studies or long-term trials are needed; OXTR associations show inconsistencies, null effects, and heterogeneity; future studies must examine potential social side effects and “contraindications” of oxytocin treatment.
- Evident from the text: as a mini-review/mini-symposium summary, it is not comprehensive and relies on cited studies rather than new empirical data; several cited clinical findings come from small samples, such as 15 ASD adults and 91 men, limiting generalizability.
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Claims the paper makes
56 Not checked yet · 13 Own interpretation · 8 Own result · 2 No basis given · 1 Own method
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Relative to both AVP and placebo, OT increased the caudate nucleus response to reciprocated cooperation, which may augment the reward of reciprocated cooperation and/or facilitate learning that another person can be trusted.”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
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A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Moreover, the caudate nucleus response to reciprocated cooperation was positively correlated with plasma OT levels.”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“OT pretreatment did not change overall neural activation as measured by Fos expression in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVN), a brain region critically involved in coordinating neuroendocrine and autonomic responses to stress.”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“OT also enhanced left amygdala activation in response to reciprocated cooperation.”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“OT pretreatment unexpectedly resulted in a trend toward heightened glucocorticoid levels, but this may in fact be adaptive during an environmental threat that necessitates mobilization (J.R. Yee, S.W. Porges, and C.S. Carter, unpublished observations).”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
plainconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Interestingly, functional coupling with the PVN was seen in brainstem nuclei that exert both sympathetic (rostral ventrolateral medulla) and parasympathetic (dorsal vagal complex and nucleus ambiguous) influences on the heart.”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Systemic pretreatment of OT before a brief flooded cage stressor (which may mimic the threat of a flooded burrow in nature) resulted in a greater amount of time spent in sedentary social contact after being returned to the home cage.”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
In the paper
“Voles pretreated with OT displayed elevated concentrations of plasma OT 95 min following the original injection, suggesting positive feedback potentiation of OT release in the context of environmental stress similar to that seen in the context of parturition (Russell et al., 2003).”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Russell et al., 2003
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“inhibition of the OT system by antagonist administration in marmosets (Smith et al., 2010) and rats (van Leengoed et al., 1987) or OT receptor knockout in mice (Pobbe et al., 2012) resulted in decreased huddling behavior.”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Smith et al., 2010
- Not checked yetcites van Leengoed et al., 1987
- Not checked yetcites Pobbe et al., 2012
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Indeed, OT signaling in areas such as the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus and central amygdala play a critical role in modulating responses to stressful, fearful, and anxietyprovoking stimuli (Neumann et al., 2000a(Neumann et al., ,b, 2002;;Huber et al., 2005;Viviani et al., 2011).”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Neumann et al., 2000a
- Not checked yetcites Huber et al., 2005
- Not checked yetcites Viviani et al., 2011
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- It may state two separate claims as one. 23
- Probably not a substantial claim. 6
A result the paper reports from its own data — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Finally, OT was associated with decreased amygdala functional connectivity with the brainstem compared with placebo (as expected), and increased amygdala functional connectivity with both the ventral anterior insula and the inferior lateral temporal cortex.”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Recent worldwide epidemiological studies have shown that at least 1 in every 100 people has some form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (Brugha et al., 2011;Kim et al., 2011;Autism andDevelopmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year 2008 Principal Investigators andCDC, 2012).”
§ Mini > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Brugha et al., 2011
- Not checked yetcites Kim et al., 2011
boosted- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Humans exposed to OT make more eye contact, feel increased in-group trust, and are better able to infer emotions from other peoples' facial expressions (Bartz et al., 2011a;Meyer-Lindenberg et al., 2011;Striepens et al., 2011;Van Ijzendoorn and Bakermans-Kranenburg, 2012).”
§ Mini > Introduction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bartz et al., 2011a
- Not checked yetcites Meyer-Lindenberg et al., 2011
- Not checked yetcites Striepens et al., 2011
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The basis of this prevailing view has progressed from animal research documenting a pivotal role of OT in promoting social bonding and attachment (Insel, 1992;Young et al., 1998;Insel and Young, 2001;Kendrick, 2004;Neumann, 2009;Insel, 2010) and controlling fear and stress responses (Neumann, 2002;Huber et al., 2005;Lukas et al., 2011;Viviani et al., 2011;Knobloch et al., 2012) to pharmacological”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Insel, 1992
- Not checked yetcites Neumann, 2002 source
- Not checked yetcites Huber et al., 2005
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Results were interpreted to suggest that OT suppresses the aversive response to infant crying, represented in the amygdala, while augmenting the empathic response, represented in the insula.”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Riem et al., 2011
- Not checked yetcites Riem et al., 2012
hedgeddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“These latter results suggest that OT may enhance the amygdala's ability to elicit subjective feeling states and enhance attention to salient social stimuli.”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
What the paper did — it cites no source for this, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“In a double-blind, placebocontrolled study, 91 men between the ages of 18 and 22 years (mean, 20.2 years) were randomized to receive intranasal OT (n ϭ 27), intranasal vasopressin (AVP) (n ϭ 27) or intranasal placebo (n ϭ 36).”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
plainn = 91- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
The paper states this without a source or data behind it here, so there is nothing to check it against. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Current perspectives on the neuromodulatory effects of OT in the domain of human social cognition and behavior emphasize its potency as a facilitator of sociality.”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The anxiolytic action of the peptide has indeed been shown as decreased endocrine and subjective responses to social stress (Heinrichs et al., 2003) or as reduced negative cognitive self-appraisal in individuals scoring high in trait anxiety (Alvares et al., 2012), whereas the social salience hypothesis has gained considerable support from studies showing increased eye contact (Guastella et al., 2”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Heinrichs et al., 2003
- Not checked yetcites Alvares et al., 2012
boosteddirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The OT receptor gene (OXTR) is located on chromosome 3p25, spans 17 kb (Inoue et al., 1994), and encodes a 389 aa polypeptide with seven transmembrane domains belonging to the class I G-protein-coupled receptor family (Gimpl and Fahrenholz, 2001).”
§ Mini > The role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in human social stress and cognition
What the sources say
plain- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: fails — The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“In addition, OT has been implicated in impeded trust and cooperation as well as in negatively biased recollections of maternal care and closeness in insecurely or anxiously attached individuals (Bartz et al., 2010(Bartz et al., , 2011b)).”
§ Mini > Animal models: oxytocin, functional neural connectivity, and the promotion of social cohesion during an environmental stressor
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Bartz et al., 2010
- Not checked yetcites Bartz et al., 2011b
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“These studies showed that OT modulates amygdala activity when viewing human face stimuli in a sexually dimorphic manner, with OT generally decreasing amygdala activation to emotional faces in men (Kirsch et al., 2005;Domes et al., 2007b;Petrovic et al., 2008) but increasing it in women (Domes et al., 2010).”
§ Mini > The neural substrates for effects of oxytocin on human social cognition and behavior
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Kirsch et al., 2005
- Not checked yetcites Domes et al., 2007b
- Not checked yetcites Domes et al., 2010 source
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Specifically, consistent with a prior report in ASD (Kurth et al., 2011), an allele-load-dependent decrease in hypothalamus gray matter volume was observed in rs53576 A allele carriers that predicted lower prosocial temperament specifically in males.”
§ Mini > Neurogenetic effects of social risk variants in OXTR on limbic structure and function
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Tost et al., 2010
- Not checked yetcites Kurth et al., 2011
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“A particularly interesting example is rs2268498 (T/C), a functional polymorphism in the promoter region of the gene that contributes to moral judgments (Walter et al., 2012) and negative emotionality (Montag et al., 2011), as well as the intronic variant rs7632287 (G/A) that has been associated with childhood social behavior and adult pair-bonding (Walum et al., 2012) as well as susceptibility to”
§ Mini > The role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in human social stress and cognition
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Walter et al., 2012
- Not checked yetcites Walum et al., 2012
- Not checked yetcites Israel et al., 2009
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Instead, a significant decrease in hypothalamus volume and altered function of dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus during emotion processing was observed, a discrepancy in findings that may relate to differences in imaging methods and/or population stratification effects.”
§ Mini > Neurogenetic effects of social risk variants in OXTR on limbic structure and function
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Tost et al., 2011
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The A allele of rs53576 has been associated with a larger startle response and reduced emotion-reading abilities (Rodrigues et al., 2009), reduced maternal sensitivity (Bakermans-Kranenburg and van Ijzendoorn, 2008), fewer affiliative displays (Kogan et al., 2011), reduced trust (Krueger et al., 2012), increased hormonal and neurocardiac reactivity to social stress (Norman et al., 2012), and lower”
§ Mini > The role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in human social stress and cognition
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Rodrigues et al., 2009
- Not checked yetcites Bakermans-Kranenburg and van Ijzendoorn, 2008
- Not checked yetcites Krueger et al., 2012 source
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The first imaging genetics study in a large sample of healthy Japanese adults (Inoue et al., 2010) used manual tracing methods to derive amygdala volumes, and examined the relationship of these measures to seven SNPs and one haplotype block in OXTR linked to ASD.Consistent with a second smaller study in adolescents of mixed ethnicity (Furman et al., 2011), the authors detected an association of”
§ Mini > Neurogenetic effects of social risk variants in OXTR on limbic structure and function
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Inoue et al., 2010
- Not checked yetcites Furman et al., 2011
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The AA genotype of rs53576 has been associated with reduced positive affect in men (Lucht et al., 2009) and a reduced tendency to seek social support during distress when such behavior is culturally normative (Kim et al., 2010).”
§ Mini > The role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in human social stress and cognition
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Lucht et al., 2009
- Not checked yetcites Kim et al., 2010
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“Variation at rs2254298 has been associated with prosociality (Israel et al., 2009); trait empathy (Wu et al., 2012); attachment anxiety in females and autism-spectrum quotient in males (Chen, 2012); infant-caregiver attachment security in non-Caucasians (Chen et al., 2011a); and parental touch during interactions with infants (Feldman et al., 2012).”
§ Mini > The role of the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) in human social stress and cognition
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Israel et al., 2009
- Not checked yetcites Wu et al., 2012
- Not checked yetcites Feldman et al., 2012
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“The structural and functional anatomy of these networks is highly heritable (Peper et al., 2007) and shaped by a multitude of genetic variants, some of them conferring risk for mental disorders (Pezawas et al., 2005;Meyer-Lindenberg et al., 2009).”
§ Mini > Neurogenetic effects of social risk variants in OXTR on limbic structure and function
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Peper et al., 2007
- Not checked yetcites Pezawas et al., 2005
- Not checked yetcites Meyer-Lindenberg et al., 2009
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“This study revealed that ASD individuals exhibited stronger interactions with the most socially cooperative partner and that they reported enhanced feelings of trust and preference with increased gazing time into the eyes after OT administration together with elevated plasma levels of OT.”
§ Mini > Oxytocin and autistic social dysfunction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Andari et al., 2010
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“Here, a significant increase in brain activation was observed in risk allele carriers that was further enhanced through the intranasal application of OT.”
§ Mini > Neurogenetic effects of social risk variants in OXTR on limbic structure and function
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Sauer et al., 2012
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: unclear — It is unclear whether the paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
A conclusion the paper draws from its own results — it cites no other source for it, so there is none to check. The quote shows it is in the paper.
In the paper
“Furthermore, early or long-term administration of oxytocin might even have an effect at the genetic (e.g., epigenetic, such as methylation of OXTR) level.”
§ Mini > Conclusion
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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Probably not a substantial claim. The paper’s conclusions may not depend on it. The paper may give no reason why it holds.
In the paper
“However, although those who received placebo first tended to revert to baseline after a 1 week infusion interval, those who received OT first retained the ability to accurately assign emotional significance to speech intonation in the speech comprehension task (Hollander et al., 2007).”
§ Mini > Oxytocin and autistic social dysfunction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hollander et al., 2007
plaindirect- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
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It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“A lower-than-normal plasma OT level in ASD subjects (Modahl et al., 1998;Andari et al., 2010;Munesue et al., 2010) and an association of ASD with OXTR (Wu et al., 2005;Jacob et al., 2007;Lerer et al., 2008;Liu et al., 2010) further support a link between OT and ASD, although some inconsistency in association between ASD and OXTR was also recognized (Tansey et al., 2010;Campbell et al., 2011).”
§ Mini > Oxytocin and autistic social dysfunction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Modahl et al., 1998
- Not checked yetcites Wu et al., 2005
- Not checked yetcites Tansey et al., 2010
plaincorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“it was suggested that OT can contribute to the pathophysiology of ASD, a sexually dimorphic neurodevelopmental disorder with social deficits as a core feature, and that it could be a candidate thera-peutic agent for the symptoms of ASD (Yamasue et al., 2009).”
§ Mini > Oxytocin and autistic social dysfunction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Yamasue et al., 2009 source
hedgedconditional- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
None of the sources cited for this claim have been checked yet.
In the paper
“as the OT system is evolutionarily highly conserved in the mammalian brain and overlapping regions such as the amygdala, striatum, hypothalamus, and medial frontal cortex were indicated as shared neural effector sites in both humans and animals (Young et al., 2001;Hammock and Young, 2006;Inoue et al., 2010;Tost et al., 2010Tost et al., , 2011;;Furman et al., 2011;Yamasue et al., 2011).”
§ Mini > Conclusion
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Young et al., 2001
- Not checked yetcites Hammock and Young, 2006
- Not checked yetcites Inoue et al., 2010
hedgedcorrelational- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
It may state two separate claims as one.
In the paper
“The authors examined 15 medication-free adults with ASD without intellectual disability who underwent two identical challenge days in which they received a continuous infusion of synthetic OT (pitocin) or placebo over 4 h in a randomized and double-blind design.”
§ Mini > Oxytocin and autistic social dysfunction
What the sources say
- Not checked yetcites Hollander et al., 2003
plainn = 15- Asserted: passes — The authors put it forward as true.
- Checkable: passes — It can be checked against evidence.
- Load-bearing: passes — The paper’s conclusions depend on it.
- Based: passes — The paper gives a reason why it holds.
Probably not a substantial claim.
The paper relies on this without support.
There is no established pharmacological treatment for social dysfunction, the core feature of ASD.
“However, there is no established pharmacological treatment for social dysfunction, the core feature of ASD.”
The paper relies on this without support.
Little is known about the mechanistic effects of OT on social brain circuits, which are at the core of the observed behavioral changes.
“Specifically, little is known about the mechanistic effects of OT on social brain circuits, which are at the core of the observed behavioral changes.”
The paper relies on this without support.
The neural mechanisms by which OT improves autistic behavior are unknown.
“mechanisms by which OT improves autistic behavior are also unknown.”
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“recent studies have proposed that intranasal oxytocin administration may be effective.2, 3”
In the citing paper
“We conducted intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses including all participants, and subgroup analyses in only male participants with good adherence (>50%) because sex-based differences in responses to oxytocin administration have been reported (Table 1, Figure 1).2, 38”
In the citing paper
“because sex-based differences in responses to oxytocin administration have been reported (Table 1, Figure 1).2, 38”
Citations
Cites
Oxytocin increases trust in humans
Kosfeld, M., Heinrichs, M., Zak, P. J., Fischbacher, U., & Fehr, E. (2005) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature03701 · Cited by 3,690
The oxytocin receptor system: structure, function, and regulation
Gimpl, G., & Fahrenholz, F. (2001) · Physiological Reviews · doi:10.1152/physrev.2001.81.2.629 · Cited by 3,089
Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., & Ehlert, U. (2003) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s0006-3223(03)00465-7 · Cited by 2,091
Pezawas, L., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Drabant, E. M., Verchinski, B. A., Munoz, K. E., Kolachana, B. S., Egan, M. F., Mattay, V. S., Hariri, A. R., & Weinberger, D. R. (2005) · Nature Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nn1463 · Cited by 1,980
Self-citationOxytocin and vasopressin in the human brain: social neuropeptides for translational medicine
Meyer-Lindenberg, A., Domes, G., Kirsch, P., & Heinrichs, M. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3044 · Cited by 1,688
Self-citationOxytocin, vasopressin, and the neurogenetics of sociality
Donaldson, Z. R., & Young, L. J. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1158668 · Cited by 1,645
Oxytocin Modulates Neural Circuitry for Social Cognition and Fear in Humans
Kirsch, P., Esslinger, C., Chen, Q., Mier, D., Lis, S., Siddhanti, S., Gruppe, H., Mattay, V. S., Gallhofer, B., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2005) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.3984-05.2005 · Cited by 1,639
Self-citationCity living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans
Lederbogen, F., Kirsch, P., Haddad, L., Streit, F., Tost, H., Schuch, P., Wüst, S., Pruessner, J. C., Rietschel, M., Deuschle, M., et al. (2011) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature10190 · Cited by 1,584
Self-citationSocial effects of oxytocin in humans: context and person matter
Bartz, J. A., Zaki, J., Bolger, N., & Ochsner, K. N. (2011) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2011.05.002 · Cited by 1,581 · cited 5×
“In addition, OT has been implicated in impeded trust and cooperation as well as in negatively biased recollections of maternal care and closeness in insecurely or anxiously attached individuals (Bartz et al., 2010, 2011b).”
BackgroundInfluential
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Lai, M.-C., Lombardo, M. V., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)61539-1 · Cited by 2,371
Social reward requires coordinated activity of nucleus accumbens oxytocin and serotonin
Dölen, G., Darvishzadeh, A., Huang, K. W., & Malenka, R. C. (2013) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature12518 · Cited by 1,161
The adaptive human parental brain: implications for children's social development
Feldman, R. (2015) · Trends in Neurosciences · doi:10.1016/j.tins.2015.04.004 · Cited by 419
Vitamin D hormone regulates serotonin synthesis. Part 1: Relevance for autism
Patrick, R. P., & Ames, B. N. (2014) · The FASEB Journal · doi:10.1096/fj.13-246546 · Cited by 414
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., & van IJzendoorn, M. H. (2013) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/tp.2013.34 · Cited by 383
Metadata
- Authors
- Yamasue, H., Yee, J. R., Hurlemann, R., Rilling, J. K., Chen, F. S., Meyer-Lindenberg, A., & Tost, H.
- Affiliations
- Japan Science and Technology Agency (JP)
- RTI International (US)
- University of Bonn (DE)
- Emory University (US)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Venue
- The Journal of Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Society for Neuroscience
- Published
- 2012-10-10
- Volume
- 32
- Issue
- 41
- Pages
- 14109-14117a
- ISSN
- 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-2401
- PMC
- PMC6622380
- OpenAlex
- W1973821096
- Semantic Scholar
- d4d1458505846a549f2fa12fc3c49e0328fb913e
- Cited by
- 149
- References
- 158
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 31
- FWCI
- 34.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Journal of Neuroscience Nursing
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (22689034, 23659558)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Human-Animal Interaction Studies
- Keywords
- oxytocin, prosocial behavior, autism spectrum disorder, social dysfunction, social behavior, animal models, oxytocin therapy, social brain, autism genetics
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Autistic Disorder, Humans, Neural Pathways, Oxytocin, Social Behavior, Social Environment
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
A language model drew the claims from the paper on 2026-10-09, under version 3 of the claim definition (model deepseek-v4.1-flash, prompt extract-v3).
A second model labelled each claim on 2026-10-09 (model jev-1.13-20260917, definition revision gold-guideline-v0.2).
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
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