r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Feb 08 '25

Neuroscience Specific neurons that secrete oxytocin in the brain are disrupted in a mouse model of autism, neuroscientists have found. Stimulating these neurons restored social behaviors in these mice. These findings could help to develop new ways to treat autism.

https://www.riken.jp/en/news_pubs/research_news/rr/20250207_1/index.html
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u/skippydi34 Feb 09 '25

But neurotypical people don't need to observe this. I know that I'm nervous the second I am. I don't think about it. I have a hard time to understand how it feels to not have this feeling.

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u/Brossentia Feb 09 '25

Hah, autistic here. On an internet show, I once interviewed the founders of Blizzard, and... I didn't prepare or anything. Figured I'd wing it, and it went just fine. After, some staff said, "Glad you did it. I'd have been nervous as hell."

It was at that moment that I realized, "Oh, yeah, I should be." And I freaked out.

I feel emotions quite heavily, but they're often not what's expected or what's appropriate. If I think about the situation, I usually feel what's "correct," and it's become easier to read how others feel. Still, there are those moments...

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u/FloatingGhost Feb 09 '25

it's... unusual

the best way I can probably convey it is such:

if someone asks you "What's on your mind?", (I imagine) you'd be pretty able to answer - that's the precise thing that autism seems to inhibit. I've confused a great many people by responding "I'm not quite sure"

it's like... idk I know something is going on in my head but I'm not yet sure what it is, I'm still waiting for it to finish processing

like you're sat there staring at a computer mouse doing the hourglass thing. it's thinking, it'll finish soon probably

sorta

it's hard to explain

sometimes it's so bad that I need to rule things out, look up descriptions of emotional "symptoms" and go "hmmm I'm not angry... not worried... anxious? maybe"

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u/RedditFuelsMyDepress Feb 09 '25

When I start thinking about "what's on my mind", what's on my mind is trying to figure out what's on my mind.

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u/skippydi34 Feb 09 '25

That's why asking "How are you?" (Not the small talk how are you) isn't a good question, right? Autistic people told me that they don't know what to answer. Too unspecific, too much to process.

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u/FloatingGhost Feb 09 '25

yeah I'd agree with that assessment

it's like my brain is a mess of things happening that I can't observe unless I'm told what to look for - for example my manager at work can ask "how are you finding work?" and I can answer since I have something to narrow in on

but more general than that and I'll probably default to something noncommittal to stop the line of questioning before it gets weird

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u/KuriousKhemicals Feb 09 '25

Hahaha I suspect I might have mild ASD (getting eval soon) and I have just mentally restricted that question to certain topic areas that concern the interaction of myself and the person asking.

I think I still answer in more detail/ with sometimes more negatives than they wanted, but serves them right for asking questions that aren't actually meant to be answered. 

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u/magistrate101 Feb 09 '25

"What's new with you?" does the same thing to me.

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u/zefy_zef Feb 09 '25

If someone asked me what's on my mind I don't know what I'd say. I'm always thinking about things, but it's never one. Everything's connected, if you want information I need your context.

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u/Hunter20107 Feb 10 '25

This reminds me of when I went looking through my old school end of year comments from teachers, and the most common comment, regardless of year, teacher or school, was "He understands the question and knows the answer, but does not know how to explain it or write it down". So, I've always kind of viewed it as a communication problem from my brain to my body and sometimes vice versa. If someone asks me a question, I have to hear it (body), understand it (info travels to brain), answer it (brain), find a way to explain my answer (info travels to body), communicate answer (body) all fairly consciously (I am assuming it comes a bit more naturally to neurotypicals). If anything goes wrong during that process, it just leads to misunderstanding and problems.

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u/TheLastBallad Feb 09 '25

Consider how it feels when you accidentally touch something hot.

You don't feel the pain, but you still react to it... and then the pain hits.

Only with feelings, and on a larger timescale.

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u/Suspense6 Feb 09 '25

Yeah, it's weird. Sometimes I feel things and I understand the feelings and where they came from and how they're affecting my behavior. Other times any of those steps can be missing or confused. I think I feel emotions very strongly, but I don't always know what they are. Sometimes I see someone's behavior toward me change, and that's my first clue and I have to follow it back. They're reacting to something about me... oh I'm feeling something... my teeth are clenched... oh I see I feel very stressed.