A new study in the May 15th Biological Psychiatry has found genetic links to the “impaired social behaviors” of autistic children. Researchers from Yale University studied six genes “known to be involved in maternal and affiliative behaviors”; they suggest that two neurohormones which are linked to affiliative behaviors in animals, prolactin and oxytocin, are linked to affiliative behaviors characteristic of autism. From Science Daily:
….One aspect of an autistic child’s impaired social abilities is their lack of affiliative behaviors, i.e., behaviors such as touching and hugging that strengthen social bonds……
n this study, Yale University researchers recruited, genotyped, and clinically assessed a …read more