Longitudinal changes in sociality after long-term administration of oxytocin - MEG study

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K19756
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Psychiatric science
• Research Institution: Kanazawa University
• Principal Investigator: Tetsu Hirosawa 金沢大学, 附属病院, 助教 (80645127)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 自閉スペクトラム症 / Magnetic mismatch field / Empathy quotients

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are neurodevelopmental conditions with impairments in social communica- tion and interaction. Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person's inner life, and it is an essential process in social cognition, which is deficient in ASD. The mismatch field (MMF) has been used as a neurophysiological marker for the automatic detection of changes in auditory stimuli. In the present study, we focused on long-term changes in MMF evoked by an empathic voice and changes in the empathy quotient (EQ) in ASD during an 8-week clinical trial using oxytocin (OT). Ten males with ASD without intellectual disability participated in this pilot study. The results demonstrated a significant positive correlation between the change in the MMF amplitude in the auditory cortex and the change in the EQ score during the 8-week clinical trial, whereas no significant change was observed in the MMF amplitude or EQ score after the administration period of OT.

Free Research Field

精神神経医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

オキシトシン長期投与によるASDの社会性の障害に対する治療効果は実証できなかった。一方、我々の結果は、社会的な刺激（話者が聞き手の注意を促すために発する声）により誘導されるMMFが、男性成人のASD者において共感性の神経生理的かつState dependentな指標になりうることを示す事ができた。今回はOTの社会性の障害の治療としての効果量が想定より小さく、予定した被験者数では有意な効果を示す事が出来なかったが、より大きなサンプルサイズで臨床試験を行う際の、社会性の改善の生理的な指標として、MMFが有用となる可能性を示す事ができた。