A study found that a single dose of oxytocin, a hormone involved in bonding and trust, improved brain responses to facial expressions in children with autism when administered via nasal spray. Brain scans showed increased activity in reward centers of the brain when viewing faces after oxytocin. However, oxytocin did not change social behavior. Experts say more research is needed on both benefits and risks before oxytocin can be considered a treatment for autism.

1. ‘Love hormone’ helps autistic children bond with others
Level 3
Advanced
1 Key words
Complete the sentences using these key words from the text.
placebo
bonding
autism
nasal
cognitive
side effect
hormone
scan
therapy
inanimate
1. _________________ means relating to your nose.
2. A _________________ is a natural substance produced by your body that controls important physical
processes such as those relating to growth and sexual development.
3. _________________ is a serious mental condition that makes it difficult for someone to react to other people
and communicate with them.
4. A _________________ is a medical test that uses special equipment to produce an image of the inside of your
body.
5. A _________________ is a form of treatment for an illness or medical condition.
6. _________________ is the development of a special close relationship between people.
7. A _________________ is a substance that is not a medicine, used as a standard of comparison in testing the
effectiveness of a new medicine.
8. An _________________ object is not alive.
9. A _________________ science or process is one that is connected with recognizing and understanding things.
10. A _________________ is an effect of a medicine that is not intended and could be unpleasant.
2 Correct the statements
These statements are all false. Read the text and change the sentences so that they are correct.
1. More than one in ten people suffer from autism.
2. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the pancreas.
3. A single dose of oxytocin improved brain responses to inanimate objects.
4. The youths tested in the experiment were aged between eight and 17.
5. The effects of oxytocin only last for four or five minutes.
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6. Oxytocin only affects behaviour and not brain activity.

2. ‘Love hormone’ helps autistic children bond with others
Advanced
Researchers find that nasal sprays laced with
oxytocin help youngsters interact better, but the
effects do not last long
Ian Sample
2 December, 2013
1 A nasal spray laced with the ‘Love hormone’
oxytocin could help children with autism learn to
handle social situations better, US researchers
claim. Scans of children with autistic spectrum
disorder showed that a single dose of the chemical
improved brain responses to facial expressions, a
shift that could make social interactions feel more
natural and rewarding for them.
2 The scientists behind the research said a
course of oxytocin might boost the success of
behavioural therapies that are already used to
help people with autism learn to cope with social
situations. “Over time, what you would expect to
see is more appropriate social responding, being
more interested in interacting with other people,
more eye contact and more conversational
ability,” said Kevin Pelphrey, director of the Child
Neuroscience Lab at Yale University.
3 Autism is a developmental disorder seen in
more than one in 100 people. The condition
affects individuals in different ways, but is
characterized by difficulties in social interaction
and communication. So far, there is no established
treatment for the social problems caused by autism.
4 Researchers at Yale have studied the brain
chemical oxytocin as a potential treatment for the
social impairments caused by autism because it
plays a crucial role in bonding and trust. Results
have been mixed, though: one recent study
found no significant benefit for youths given the
chemical over several days. But Pelphrey said
oxytocin might help the brain learn from social
interactions; it would work best when used with
therapies that encourage people with autism to
engage more socially, he said. “Our study shows
that oxytocin affects the brain and opens up the
possibility that, when combined with behavioural
treatments, it works like a social enhancer,” he said.
5 The scientists used a technique called functional
MRI to scan the brains of 17 youths aged eight
to 16 with autism while they looked at images of
cars or the eyes of people expressing various
emotions. The scans were given 45 minutes after
the participants inhaled a placebo or oxytocin
through a nasal spray.
6 The scans showed that reward circuitry in the
children’s brains behaved more normally after
a snort of oxytocin, being more active when the
person was looking at faces and less active when
viewing the inanimate cars. The study appears in
the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences in the United States.
7 “If this is replicated, it suggests that oxytocin
might treat something for which we don’t have
a treatment in autism, and that’s the core social
motivation,” Pelphrey told the Guardian.
8 He warned that it was too early to use oxytocin
as a treatment for the social difficulties caused
by autism and cautioned against buying oxytocin
from suppliers online. “We don’t want them
running out on the basis of this study or any other
and trying oxytocin at home. There is no telling
what they are buying. We are nowhere near
thinking this is a ready treatment. It needs more
follow-up,” he said. “This is an important new
study in identifying changes in brain activity in key
regions of the brain involved in social cognition
in autism following oxytocin administration,”
said Simon Baron-Cohen, director of the Autism
Research Centre at Cambridge University.
9 A surprising finding, however, is that oxytocin
nasal spray did not change performance on the
social cognitive task. Nor is it clear yet if oxytocin
only has benefits for people with autism or has
any unwanted side effects. Finally, oxytocin
effects only last about 45 minutes, so there may
be practical considerations as to whether this
could be used as a treatment.
10 “From a scientific perspective, this study has a lot
of evidence from animal and human work to justify
serious attention, but more research is needed.
Doctors should be cautious about the clinical
potential of this hormone until we know much more
about its benefits and risks, in much larger studies.”
Said Simon Baron-Cohen.
11 Uta Frith, who studies autism at University College
London, said: “According to this study, oxytocin may
have the effect of making faces more interesting
as assessed by greater activity in brain structures
concerned with reward evaluation. Disappointingly,
this effect is seen only in brain activity and not in
behaviour. Demonstrating an effect on behaviour will
be critical if nasal spray treatment is to be of any value.”
© Guardian News and Media 2013
First published in The Guardian, 02/12/13
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‘Love hormone’ helps autistic children
bond with others, study shows
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3. ‘Love hormone’ helps autistic children bond with others
Level 3
Advanced
3 Comprehension check
Choose the best answer according to the text.
1. Oxytocin …
a. … is a cure for autism.
b. … could help autistic children handle social situations better.
c. … has a strong impact on behaviour.
2. Oxytocin …
a. … should be bought from suppliers online.
b. … is not a ready treatment.
c. … can be tried at home.
3. Oxytocin …
a. … has side effects.
b. … doesn’t have side effects.
c. … might have side effects.
4. According to experts, oxytocin …
a. … is interesting and is worth further study.
b. … is a convincing therapy for autism.
c. … should be used as a 45-minute treatment.
4 Find the word
Find the following words and phrases in the text.
1. a two-word verb phrase meaning put a small amount of a drug into a drink or food (para 1)
2. a verb meaning help something to increase, improve or become more successful (para 2)
3. a noun meaning the study of the brain (para 2)
4. a noun meaning the fact that your body is not able to perform a particular function fully (para 4)
5. a noun meaning something that helps to improve something (para 4)
6. a noun meaning a dose of a drug taken through the nose (para 6)
7. a two-word phrasal verb meaning warn someone not to do something (para 8)
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8. a noun meaning the action of giving someone a drug (para 8)

4. ‘Love hormone’ helps autistic children bond with others
Level 3
Advanced
5 Verb + noun collocations
Match the verbs in the left-hand column with the nouns and noun phrases in the right-hand column.
1. handle
a. side effects
2. play
b. social situations
3. express
c. social problems
4. have
d. a role
5. cause
e. attention
6. justify
f.
emotions
6 Word-building
Complete the sentences using the correct form of the word in brackets at the end of each sentence.
1. __________________, oxytocin only seems to have an effect on brain activity and not on behaviour. [DISAPPOINT]
2. Oxytocin may help autistic children make more eye contact and have more __________________ ability.
[CONVERSATION]
3. Oxytocin could be used in combination with other __________________ treatments. [BEHAVIOUR]
4. Autism is __________________ by difficulties in social interaction and communication. [CHARACTER]
5. Autism causes various social __________________. [IMPAIR]
6. Experts advise against buying oxytocin from ____________ online. [SUPPLY]
7 Discussion
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What benefits could oxytocin have, on the one hand, and what reasons are there for people to be
cautious, on the other hand?
Would you buy medicines from online suppliers? Why? Why not?
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5. ‘Love hormone’ helps autistic children bond with others
Level 3
Advanced
KEY
1 Key words
5 Verb + noun collocations
1. nasal
2. hormone
3. autism
4. scan
5. therapy
6. bonding
7. placebo
8. inanimate
9. cognitive
10. side effect
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
2 Correct the statements
1. More than one in 100 people suffer from autism.
2. Oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain.
3. A single dose of oxytocin improved brain responses
to facial expressions.
4. The youths tested in the experiment were aged
between eight and 16.
5. The effects of oxytocin only last for 45 minutes.
6. Oxytocin only affects brain activity and
not behaviour.
b
d
f
a
c
e
6 Word-building
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
disappointingly
conversational
behavioural
characterized
impairments
suppliers
3 Comprehension check
1.
2.
3.
4.
b
b
c
a
4 Find the word
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lace with
boost
neuroscience
impairment
enhancer
snort
caution against
administration
N
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.