Restoring effects of oxytocin on the attentional preference for faces in autism

Abstract

Reduced attentional preference for faces and symptoms of social anxiety are common in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The neuropeptide oxytocin triggers anxiolytic functions and enhances eye gaze, facial emotion recognition and neural correlates of face processing in ASD. Here we investigated whether a single dose of oxytocin increases attention to faces in ASD. As a secondary question, we explored the influence of social anxiety on these effects. We tested for oxytocin's effects on attention to neutral faces as compared to houses in a sample of 29 autistic individuals and 30 control participants using a dot-probe paradigm with two different presentation times (100 or 500 ms). A single dose of 24 IU oxytocin was administered in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled, cross-over design. Under placebo, ASD individuals paid less attention to faces presented for 500 ms than did controls. Oxytocin administration increased the allocation of attention toward faces in ASD to a level observed in controls. Secondary analyses revealed that these oxytocin effects primarily occurred in ASD individuals with high levels of social anxiety who were characterized by attentional avoidance of faces under placebo. Our results confirm a positive influence of intranasal oxytocin on social attention processes in ASD. Further, they suggest that oxytocin may in particular restore the attentional preference for facial information in ASD individuals with high social anxiety. We conclude that oxytocin's anxiolytic properties may partially account for its positive effects on socio-cognitive functioning in ASD, such as enhanced eye gaze and facial emotion recognition.

The neurobiological presentation of anxiety in autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review

“…Taken together, these studies highlight that looking behavior in autism versus typical development may be at least partially explained by the presence of anxiety [Corden et al, ; Kanat et al, ]. Considering the literature on neurotypical samples, high levels of social anxiety have been found to be associated with decreased looking at emotional faces [Garner, Mogg, & Bradley, ].…”

“…Lastly, a study examined the effect of delivering intranasal oxytocin ( versus placebo) on looking behavior among adults with and without autism [Kanat et al, ]. Using a dot‐probe paradigm with face and house images, results showed that those with autism who received the placebo looked less at faces than neurotypical adults.…”

“…Social anxiety was measured via self‐report. Results indicated that the effects of oxytocin for the autism sample were driven by those with high levels of social anxiety [Kanat et al, ].…”

Face reading difficulties in children with neurofibromatosis type 1: towards more personalized treatments

“…Indeed, initial allocation of attention to faces is much weaker in patients with ASD, with high level of social anxiety. Reduced attentional preference for faces and symptoms of social anxiety are common in ASD . It could reflect arousal‐related attentional avoidance rather than reduced stimulus salience .…”

“…Reduced attentional preference for faces and symptoms of social anxiety are common in ASD . It could reflect arousal‐related attentional avoidance rather than reduced stimulus salience . The amygdaloid network might be overactive in individuals with ASD, leading to aversive experience when looking at faces early in the development.…”