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Study · Randomized controlled trial · n = 40 · 2015

3 results

Oxytocin's neurochemical effects in the medial prefrontal cortex underlie recovery of task-specific brain activity in autism: a randomized controlled trial.

Aoki Y, Watanabe T, Abe O, Kuwabara H, Yahata N, Takano Y, Iwashiro N, Natsubori T, Takao H, Kawakubo Y, Kasai K, Yamasue H

Molecular psychiatry29 Jul 2014Cited by 78 (Europe PMC)

PMID25070538 (opens in a new tab)PMCIDPMC4378254 (opens in a new tab)DOI10.1038/mp.2014.74 (opens in a new tab)PepBankPUB-25070538
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Summary

The text of this summary is not shown here, because the article license does not allow reuse. Read it at the source (opens in a new tab)

Text rights: CC BY-NC-ND. Results still quote short attributed sentences.

Results from this study3

3 results from studies that gave the peptide. 3 results from people.

  1. 01HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder, differences in vmPFC NAA levels between oxytocin and placebo sessions were associated with oxytocin-induced fMRI signal changes.

    In plain wordsIn men with autism, oxytocin-linked changes in a brain energy marker matched changes in brain activity.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicableNAA difference vs oxytocin-induced fMRI signal change in vmPFC
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Neuroprotection · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    The differences in the NAA levels between the oxytocin and placebo sessions were associated with oxytocin-induced fMRI signal changes in the vmPFC.
    1 context sentence
    Summary · context
    a single dose of intranasal oxytocin (24 IU) was administered to 40 men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder
  2. 02HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In men with autism spectrum disorder, the oxytocin-induced increase in vmPFC fMRI signal was predicted by NAA differences between oxytocin and placebo sessions (P=0.002).

    In plain wordsIn men with autism, the brain-activity rise after oxytocin could be predicted from a brain energy marker.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicablePrediction of oxytocin-induced fMRI increase by NAA differences
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Neuroprotection · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Measurements

    P value
    0.002
    NAA prediction of fMRI signal

    Source sentences

    Summary
    The oxytocin-induced increases in the fMRI signal could be predicted by the NAA differences between the oxytocin and placebo sessions (P=0.002), an effect that remained after controlling for variability in the time between the fMRI and (1)H-MRS scans (P=0.006) and the order of administration of oxyt…
  3. 03HumanRandomized controlled trialMechanism

    In men with autism spectrum disorder, path analysis showed that NAA differences in the vmPFC triggered increases in task-dependent fMRI signals, which led to improved socio-communication.

    In plain wordsIn men with autism, a statistical model linked oxytocin-related brain changes to better social communication.

    Peptide
    Oxytocin
    Outcome
    Not applicablePath analysis from NAA to fMRI signal to socio-communication improvement
    Study

    n = 40

    Comparator
    Placebo
    Outcome group
    Neuroprotection · Nervous system and cognition
    Studied dose
    24 IU · intranasal · single doseAs given in this study (human).

    Source sentences

    Summary
    Furthermore, path analysis showed that the NAA differences in the vmPFC triggered increases in the task-dependent fMRI signals in the vmPFC, which consequently led to improvements in the socio-communication difficulties associated with autism.

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Version history

PepBank keeps every version of the data on this study. Status changes from Retraction Watch, Europe PMC and Crossref are listed with their source.

  1. Version 2Current

    11 Oct 2026, 01:30 UTC

    Study results updated

  2. Version 1

    9 Oct 2026, 02:49 UTC

    First added · source update from Europe PMC

Subjects

Terms as the source lists them.

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