The results, reported today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bolster the case for testing the hormone as a possible treatment f

Vasopressin boosts sociability in solitary monkeys

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2024-11-28 20:30:02

The results, reported today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, bolster the case for testing the hormone as a possible treatment for autism traits, says lead investigator Karen Parker, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University.

“The most important implication of these findings to me is that vasopressin treatment may be useful in managing similar behavioral [traits] in people with autism,” she says.

Vasopressin is structurally similar to oxytocin, a hormone long thought to promote social behavior, though recent work has called that idea into question. Low levels of vasopressin in cerebrospinal fluid are associated with impaired social behavior in monkeys and autistic children, Parker and her colleagues previously found.

This prior work hinted that doses of vasopressin might improve social function in both animals and people, but other research in hamsters and prairie voles revealed that injections of vasopressin could also increase aggression.

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