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Project

Behavioral-clinical and stress physiological effects of chronic oxytocin administration in children with autism

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have difficulties with social communication and interaction. To date, no objective quantitative (bio)marker exists for ASD, thus formal diagnosis is solely based on clinical expertise. In addition, there are no pharmacological interventions available for ASD. Here, we will validate an innovative EEG-based neural tool to quantify socio-communicative sensitivity. Next, we will combine this new tool with various other behavioral, biological and neuroimaging measurements to study the underlying mechanisms of oxytocin (OT) pharmacotherapy. We will use this multimodal approach to monitor and predict the outcome of a long-term oxytocin pharmacotherapy in children with social difficulties with and without ASD.

We will perform a multiple-dose double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial OT trial with a single-blind oxytocin extension trial. In general, the neurophysiological and behavioral outcome measures included in the OT-trial, will allow to evaluate two core domains known to be modulated by OT: (i) social perception/ salience; and (ii) social stress/ arousal. The doctoral project will focus on exploring the implicit physiological and neural effects of OT measured during resting state EEG and fMRI, as well as the normalizing effect of OT on physiological and neural indices of arousal during social (stress)tasks. Additionally, the project will explore differences in microbiome compositions and endogenous levels of cortisol (as biological indices of stress) in children with and without ASD, and explore the possibility of OT-induced improvements in these indices. 

Date:1 Oct 2017 →  30 Sep 2021
Keywords:Fundamental & Social Neuroscience, Autism, Oxytocin, Physiology, Clinical trial
Disciplines:Rehabilitation sciences, Behavioural sciences
Project type:PhD project