Mind games

Scientists have found an effective remedy for autism. It turned out to be a long-known hormone

The mice, born seven years ago in the laboratory of the American neurophysiologist James Winslow, looked completely normal. They were healthy and growing fast. The strange behavior of rodents made itself felt when the scientist placed the matured animals in a common cage. They had a hard time getting along. This goes away when the rodents get used to each other a little, but this time it was different: the mice continued to react to their neighbors as if they were seeing them for the first time. Their withdrawn behavior greatly resembled the symptoms of a severe hereditary human disease - autism. These rodents could not learn to coexist normally.

The mice were turned into social phobes by a mutation in a single gene responsible for the production of a hormone called oxytocin. As a result of this mutation, it simply ceased to be produced. Many processes depend on oxytocin in the body of mammals (for example, it is he who provokes childbirth). Winslow clearly proved that this hormone is also responsible for social behavior.

The similarity between hormone-deprived mice and autistic mice is far-reaching. A few weeks ago, French neurophysiologist Angela Sirigu announced the results of her experiment with oxytocin. With its help, the researcher managed to correct the behavior of people with Asperger's syndrome - this is one of the forms of autism. It is possible that soon this hormone will be used to treat the disease.

It is not easy for a person with Asperger's Syndrome to communicate with other people. Patients with this form of autism are not able to capture the emotions and intentions of the interlocutor. They are very easy to offend - the most innocent ambiguity is likely to be taken literally. When asked on the phone whether the person of interest to the caller is here, the autistic person can confidently answer “no” by briefly looking around the room. And the desired interlocutor at the same time may well be just a few meters from the device, but just in another room. Otherwise, people with Asperger's syndrome are quite normal. In any case, Angela Sirigou was able to easily explain to the participants in her experiment what exactly they had to do.

The researcher handed out aerosol cans to her students, with which they had to inject oxytocin into their noses. In fact, only half of the participants in the experiment received the hormone, while the rest received vials of completely useless saline. After two weeks of such procedures, Sirigu gathered all the volunteers in her laboratory and invited them to play a simple computer game.

Three computer-controlled characters appeared on the monitor screen. Sirigu's wards were supposed to be thrown with them with a virtual ball. Participants of the experiment could pass to one of the players by pressing the appropriate button on the keyboard. Virtual characters reacted to this in different ways. One of them willingly supported the game and threw the ball to the man. The second did not always do this and often kept the ball for himself - in this case the game had to be started anew. And the third computer player was a real egoist and almost never returned the pass.

For ordinary people, such a game is not a big deal - they quickly understand which of the computer characters should not be messed with. For autistics, such tasks always cause big problems. So it was this time, but only with half of the participants in the experiment. Players who did not receive oxytocin could not find the right strategy for the game. But it was perfectly possible for those wards of Sirigu who took the hormone.

The drug performed well in another experiment. This time, the neurophysiologist showed photographs of people to volunteers and, using special sensors, followed the movements of the eyes of her charges. The autistic people who took oxytocin behaved like ordinary people - they looked into the eyes of the person depicted in the portrait for a long time. Deprived of the drug, the volunteers glanced randomly over the photograph.

The researcher is sure that such a difference in behavior cannot be a mere coincidence. "Previous studies have shown that oxytocin levels in the blood of autistic patients are lowered," she says. Now, Sirigu believes, one can be sure that this is not one of the consequences of the disease, but its cause.

She is not alone in saying this. In parallel with the Sirigu group, the effect of oxytocin on autistic patients is being studied in the laboratory of Eric Hollander, a psychiatrist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Hollander was several years ahead of Siriga - he was the first to propose administering oxytocin to autists. Hollander published the results of his experiment back in 2003. In it, the scientist showed that the hormone noticeably weakens one of the characteristic symptoms of autism - the obsession with actions.

“It can be periodic rocking from side to side or constantly repeated hand clapping. - explains the psychiatrist. “Autistic people act like this when they get bored.” With the help of a tomograph, Hollander proved that oxytocin reduces the activity of a certain area of ​​the brain responsible for anxiety and stress. Sirigu recognizes Holladner's primacy, but considers his experiment no less important: "But we managed to show that oxytocin can have a beneficial effect on the ability of autistic people to evaluate the actions of others." And this, the researcher claims, is one of the main problems of people suffering from this disease.

True, Sirigu herself does not yet understand exactly how oxytocin works in this case and is in no hurry to call the hormone a medicine: “In order to prove that oxytocin will effectively influence the behavior of autistic people in real life, completely different studies are needed.” Her competitor Eric Hollander agrees with her: "The practical application of this method - at least in America - is still very far away." In any case, such a medicine does not promise the final disposal of the disease. “Impaired ability to interact with other people is just one of the consequences of severe disruptions in the body of autistic people,” says Irina Kireeva, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology of the Russian State Medical University. “By solving a particular problem, we cannot cure the disease.” Experts have another reason for skepticism - the participants in the Sirigu experiment suffered from a fairly mild form of autism. There is no certainty that the hormone will work for people with really severe symptoms.

However, for at least one scientist, Sirigu's results are very inspiring. Claremont University professor Paul Zak believes that the new work confirms his own ideas well. Zach has nothing to do with medicine - he is an economist. At the same time, both Angela Sirigu and Eric Hollander know his work well. In his research, the scientist has been trying for many years to prove that oxytocin can affect even the most complex forms of human behavior.

In 2005, Zak conducted his own experiment - oxytocin had to be taken by absolutely healthy people. Then the scientist decided to test the generosity of the volunteers: he divided them into pairs, gave each of them a certain amount, and sat them down for an economic game. One of the team members had to share this amount fairly. Among the participants in the experiment were a variety of people. Some were ready to cooperate with a partner and gave him half of their remuneration, while others thought only of themselves and appropriated almost the entire amount. But where the conscience was powerless, oxytocin helped perfectly. Players who received a dose of the hormone remembered those around them much more often.