For my autism seminar, I have decided to focus on oxytocin. Some of you may know it as the “love hormone”. It actually was the first hormone to be synthesized. It plays a role in the positive feedback of labor by inducing uterine contractions and it also induces the production of breastmilk in the mammary glands.

I only have early findings before I really get into the bulk of research, but let me highlight them now:

• The most common form of oxytocin as drug comes in intranasal from making it a very non-invasive treatment.
• Polymorphisms (mutations) in the OXTR gene, which regulates the production of the oxytocin receptor protein found in the hypothalamus and other brain regions, has been linked to social deficits found in individuals both on and off the autism spectrum; such findings generalize its connection to social behaviors but emphasize that it is not necessarily specific to autism etiology.
• Intranasal oxytocin has helped direct people’s eye gaze to the eye region of other individuals, where we extract the most social and emotional information from facial expressions.
• It has also played roles in trust and aggression among different species, making it clear further research is necessary.

That’s all for now but I hope to elaborate a lot more with my actual paper!