Research Review: Social motivation and oxytocin in autism – implications for joint attention development and intervention

Abstract

Background and Scope The social motivation hypothesis (SMH) suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are less intrinsically rewarded by social stimuli than their neurotypical peers. This difference in social motivation has been posited as a factor contributing to social deficits in ASD. Social motivation is thought to involve the neuropeptide oxytocin. Here, we review the evidence for oxytocin effects in ASD, and discuss its potential role in one important social cognitive behavior. Methods Systematic searches were conducted using the PsychINFO and MEDLINE databases and the search terms “oxytocin”, and “autism”; the same databases were used for separate searches for “joint attention”, “intervention”, and “autism”, using the same inclusion criteria as an earlier 2011 review but updating it for the period 2010 to October 2012. Findings Several studies suggest that giving oxytocin to both individuals with ASD and typically developing individuals can enhance performance on social cognitive tasks. Studies that have attempted to intervene in joint attention in ASD suggest that social motivation may be a particular obstacle to lasting effects. Conclusions The review of the evidence for the SMH suggests a potential role for oxytocin in social motivation deficits in ASD. Because of its importance for later communicative and social development, the focus here is on implications of oxytocin and social motivation in the development of and interventions in joint attention. Joint attention is a central impairment in ASD, and as a result is the focus of several behavioral interventions. In describing this previous research on joint attention interventions in ASD, we pay particular attention to problems encountered in such studies, and propose ways that oxytocin may facilitate behavioral intervention in this area. For future research, integrating behavioral and pharmacological interventions (oxytocin administration) would be a worthwhile experimental direction to improve understanding of the role of oxytocin in ASD and help optimize outcomes for children with ASD.

Distinct oxytocin effects on belief updating in response to desirable and undesirable feedback

“…For example, the social motivation hypothesis, which proposes that OT mainly increases intrinsic reward from social interaction (48), predicts that IN-OT would facilitate updating upon desirable feedback but produce little effect on updating upon undesirable feedback. The social salience hypothesis, which suggests that OT enhances sensitivity to and salience of social cues independently of valence (33,49), predicts that OT would increase learning and updating of both desirable and undesirable feedback.…”

Opposing Oxytocin Effects on Intergroup Cooperative Behavior in Intuitive and Reflective Minds

“…Thus, individuals' personal milieu (such as cognitive styles, attachment styles) should be taken into consideration in future clinical research. Oxytocin is emerging as a pharmacological target for novel treatment in clinical trials with a wide variety of clinical groups (Heinrichs et al, 2009;Stavropoulos and Carver, 2013). However, patients from different clinical groups are characterized by different cognitive styles (eg, reflexive/intuitive vs reflective/ rational).…”

Does Impaired Social Motivation Drive Imitation Deficits in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder?

“…One aspect of social communication that may be important for imitation is social motivation. Children with ASD are though not to be motivated by social interactions in the same manner as typically developing children (see Stavropoulos and Carver 2013 for a review). For a skill like imitation-where one of the functions is to interact with social partners-the social interaction that occurs may not be sufficiently motivating for children with ASD to engage in imitative behaviors.…”