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Some call it the “hormone¹ of love.” It’s oxytocin and it helps moms bond with and breast-feed their babies, and even keeps romantic couples content. Now a study suggests that this same hormone might also help people with autism—by improving their social awareness². The work is in the Proceedings³ of the National Academy of Sciences.

有人将催产素称为“爱的荷尔蒙”，它能使母亲母乳喂养宝宝并更加亲近，甚至能使情侣们对对方更加满意。现在有研究表示这种荷尔蒙还有可能通过提高自闭症患者的社会意识帮助他们，论文发表在《美国国家科学院学报》上。

People with autism or with high-functioning autism spectrum⁴ disorders⁵ like Asperger’s syndrome⁶ have difficulty engaging in social situations. They rarely initiate⁷ social encounters, and often have trouble even meeting someone’s eye. They also have low levels of oxytocin. Now, given this hormone’s reputation as a cuddle-inducing chemical, scientists got to wondering whether people with autism might benefit by taking it.

高机能自闭症患者很难融入到社交情境中去，如亚斯伯格症患者。他们极少主动发起社会交往，而且对注视他人的眼睛感到困难，他们的催产素值也很低。既然这种荷尔蒙一向有使人想要拥抱的美誉，科学家们开始思考自闭症患者是否能从中受益。

To find out, the researchers [led by Angela Sirigu of the Center of Cognitive⁸ Neuroscience in Lyon, France] gave oxytocin to 13 patients with high-functioning autism and then monitored their attentiveness⁹ to social cues. They found that the subjects on oxytocin were more likely to make eye contact when viewing pictures of faces, and they reported feeling connected to players who were nice to them in a virtual ball toss game. These results suggest that people with autism do have hidden social skills. They just need a little hormonal¹⁰ help expressing them.

为了找出答案，法国里昂认知神经科学中心由安杰拉·西里古带领的研究者们把催产素分给13名高机能自闭症患者，并观察他们对社交提示的关注。研究发现服用催产素的受试者更有可能在看脸部图像时进行眼神接触，受试者还表示在虚拟抛球游戏中感到与对他们友好的选手互相联系着。这些都表明自闭症患者确实是有潜藏的社交技巧的，他们只是需要一点荷尔蒙把它激发出来。