Scientists tested 17 young people aged eight to 16 with autism. They gave them either oxytocin or a placebo through a nose spray. Then, the scientists scanned their brains while they looked at images of cars or the eyes of people expressing different emotions. The scans showed that some parts of the children’s brains behaved more normally after oxytocin: they were more active when the person was looking at faces and less active when the person was looking at the cars.
Why did the scientists have autistic children look at both people and cars?
To see if oxytocin changed how their brains responded to them To analyze which regions of their brains respond more to people versus cars To evoke different emotions in the children These are the most common pictures shown to people used in brain research