Oxytocin

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Has this subject been recently posted?

If not, I read that there is an article in New Scientist about injections of this hormone helping autistics to recognise emotion. (I'm not sure if the article mentions Aspergers). Would be interested to hear your views.

Yes, I read this last night.

So which one is it, mirror neurons or oxytocin?

Now, if someone were to come up with a causal connection between the two, that would be really interesting!

amazing, I just read thais on the train last night, and that's what reminded me to check WP. Very interesting article indeed, but I think the associations made with Autism were wrong. They speculated that Oxytocin would help Autistics socialise because the hormones make people feel more relaxed and willing to socialise. Whilst the relaxation may help, i'd say Autistics are already willing to socialise, just somewhat incapable of doing so comfortably. Essentially the hormone will just make us comfortable whilst failing to socialise, which can also be achieved by drinking herbal tea and meditating.
I'm not saying it wouldn't help, and i'd be the first to sign up for trials, but i'm not entirely sure the writer grasped the concept of Autism, or if the lin kwas just speculative.

a bit of web search finds some possible(!) relations.
i found that one interesting
http://www.hugthemonkey.com/2007/11/mir ... rons-.html

Sounds to me like Ethanol would do a similar job.... and that is readily available from most supermarkets and news-agents here in the UK.

indeed, that too!

Of course, for the Aspergian and Autistic of the population.... conventional ethanol-consumption premises are completely out of bounds. WAY too noisy... too high-contrast... instant sensory overload.


I did used to have a habit of going to country pubs, ordering a Strongbow... then promptly going outside and sitting by myself on the wooden bench outside.... at night. Sorta defeated the purpose... but still.

What's a "mirror neuron"? Is this an accepted term in the medical community, or is it popular jargon? I remember reading that low oxytocin levels are part of the overall picture of difficulty reaching other people. Could the low oxytocin levels be caused by difficulty reading people, or is it really the other way around?

I don't mind the lighting, but I find almost everywhere I go the sound is too high in these places. The issue for me is something else besides sensory overload. Chronic exposure to sound levels in excess of the damage threshold will cause hearing loss.

What's missing, is one of the marks of class, which is the recognition that when 2-3 of something is good, 20 is not necessarily better. This goes for sound levels (on the part of facility managers) as well as the consumption of drinks (on the part of customers). I'm not fond of the cigarette smoke, either. The music would be much more enjoyable if it were not painfully loud, and it would be easier to talk to people, too. I know people who have hearing loss from this. Wear hearing protection (small earplugs) if you must go into these places.

If they wanted to do a study on this, theoretically, they could use autistic moms who are breastfeeding, because breastfeeding moms secrete this hormone naturally. I fit into this category and I feel that I can figure out what my son is feeling (which shouldn't be hard because he's only 5 months old) but when it comes to other people, I don't know if I'm any better at it. Maybe a tiny bit.

From watching posts across WP, I'd have to disagree with that statement. I see a lot of Aspies here (virtually all teens and twenty-somethings) pining for romance, but other than that, a lot of us seem pretty content not socializing. Personally, I don't care what sort of pharmaceutical bandage they come up with, I'd rather be alone any day of the week than spend time in endless interaction with real live people.

That sums up how I feel about bars <i>and</i> pharma-pseudo-cools for my body chemistry. I do enjoy a drink now and again, but a drunk me is no fun. I will say that NTs who have been drunk may have a better ability to understand the apparent insensitivity of Aspies, if one draws the comparison. "You know that obliviousness and imperviance to criticism when you drink a lot? I feel that way all the time." That line changed how a friend thought of me, someone who had always thought I was just being a jackass to people when I supposedly didn't want to listen to others. Wish I had understood then about Asperger's Syndrome, I thought I was a jackass too, although I rejected the motivation.

I wouldn't mind trying the oxytocin hormone, although I would prefer something without a needle. I fear needles.

I go out for walks with my headphones and music player to the park...
same theory, go somewhere to socialize just to go sit alone
at least we're thinking about it

An autistic ex-alcoholic I knew said that she drank alone, but went to parties grudgingly when she couldn't afford her own booze. The opposite of most alcoholics, who start drinking at parties and progress to becoming more and more isolated.

TO be completely honest i'd much rather by a loner, unless of course the person i get to talk to has a vast understanding of nuclear fusion or WWII Tanks, and i'd hate to be able to fell emotions the same way as NTs, i like being cruel and heartless

I've hypothesized that I have an oxytocin deficit of some kind, so this makes sense.