Short- term effects of oxytocin on empathy in autistic male adults

Nasally administered oxytocin has repeatedly been found to positively affect prosocial, affiliative behaviour in healthy adults. As one of the essential ingredients of affiliative behaviour is the ability to experience affective empathy and this ability may be impaired in autistic individuals, we investigated the effects of oxytocin on affective empathy in two groups: male adults with autism and healthy male adults. To this end we studied their EEG event-related brain responses (ERPs) and autonomic event-related cardiac responses (ECRs) to empathy-evoking pictures in a double-blind placebo controlled crossover study where oxytocin and the placebo were nasally administered once (24 IE), with an interval of one week. We further explored moderators of treatment effects including baseline-measured personality traits and behaviour pathology, pre- and post treatment blood serum oxytocin levels and variants of the oxytocin receptor gene. All data has been collected and is currently analyzed and published.

Main project

This project is part of project "Social cognition and social skills in ADHD and ASD".

Researchers and partners

Behavioural and Social Sciences, Psychology

• Dr. Y. (Yvonne) Groen, Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology
• Prof. Dr. O.M. (Oliver) Tucha, Clinical and Developmental Neuropsychology
• Dr. A.A. (Berry) Wijers, Experimental Psychology

University of Groningen, outside of Behavioural and Socials Sciences

• Dr. Monika Althaus
• prof. dr. P.J. (Pieter) Hoekstra
• Dr. F. Calcagnoli

Partners outside of the University of Groningen

• Autism Team of the North of the Netherlands, Lentis Psychiatric Institute:
• Co-investigator:
• Drs. H. Noltes
• Department of Laboratory Medicine, Radboud University Medical Center:
• Prof. Dr. F.C.J.G. Sweep

Results

Publications

• Althaus, M., Groen, Y., Wijers, A. A., Noltes, H., Tucha, O., Sweep, F. C., ... Hoekstra, P. J. (2016). Do blood plasma levels of oxytocin moderate the effect of nasally administered oxytocin on social orienting in high-functioning male adults with autism spectrum disorder? Psychopharmacology, 233(14), 2737-2751. DOI: 10.1007/s00213-016-4339-1
• Althaus, M., Groen, Y., Wijers, A. A., Noltes, H., Tucha, O., & Hoekstra, P. J. (2015). Oxytocin enhances orienting to social information in a selective group of high-functioning male adults with autism spectrum disorder. Neuropsychologia, 79(Part A), 53-69. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.10.025
• Althaus, M., Groen, Y., van der Schaft, L., Minderaa, R. B., Tucha, O., Mulder, L. J. M., & Wijers, A. A. (2014). Sex Differences in Orienting to Pictures with and without Humans: Evidence from the Cardiac Evoked Response (ECR) and the Cortical Long Latency Parietal Positivity (LPP). PLoS ONE, 9(10), [108224]. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108224
• Groen, Y., Wijers, A. A., Tucha, O., & Althaus, M. (2013). Are there sex differences in ERPs related to processing empathy-evoking pictures? Neuropsychologia, 51(1), 142-155. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.11.012
• Althaus, M., Groen, Y., & Calgagnoli, F. (2012). Psychofysiologisch onderzoek: De werking van Oxytocine op empathiebeleving bij mannen met een autismespectrumstoornis. Wetenschappelijk Tijdschrift Autisme, 11(4), 133-134.