Reply: Does imitation act as an oxytocin nebulizer in autism spectrum disorder?

Abstract

Sir, We thank Dr Delaveau and colleagues for their thoughtful comments demonstrating similarities between intranasally administered oxytocin and imitation by others at the behavioural and neural levels among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In our recent study, individuals with ASD demonstrated lower accuracy in inferring others’ social emotions, and lower brain activity in the right anterior insula during the inferring, compared with matched-individuals with typical development. Intranasally administered oxytocin increased accuracy in inferring others’ social emotions and enhanced originally-diminished brain activity in the right anterior insula among individuals with ASD (Aoki et al. , 2014 b ). Delaveau and colleagues recruited six adult males with ASD and demonstrated that after exposure to being imitated, the individuals with ASD display increased activity in the right anterior insula during the condition ‘being imitated’ compared to ‘observation’. Delaveau et al. suggest that brain activation in the anterior insula during the act of being imitated by others may reflect increased salience of the social signal. A number of behavioural studies show an association between oxytocin administration and social affiliation (Young and Wang, 2004; Bakermans-Kranenburg and van, 2013), as well as studies suggesting that being imitated by others fosters social affiliation (Thelen et al. , 1975; van Baaren et al. …