Oxytocin and Autism Ranking:

Audience

Oxytocin is sometimes given to women experiencing difficulties in childbirth. It may be given to them if their labour has not started naturally or it can be used to strengthen their contractions to aid childbirth. It is sometimes given to women to speed up delivery of the placenta and reduce the risk of heavy bleeding. It may also be used to help women produce milk during breastfeeding.

Some researchers have suggested that some autistic individuals have abnormal levels of oxytocin or that their bodies are poor at processing the oxytocin that they do have. They believe that those people may benefit from taking synthetic oxytocin. For example, Parker et al (2017) suggested that 

“… individuals with ASD who have pronounced OXT signaling deficits may benefit the most from OXT treatment.”

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Nov 2017

Next Review

01 May 2024