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/Lettuphant Feb 09 '25

A lot of autistic people have a really hard time "feeling their feelings". So many go to therapy, and the therapist spends the first X months trying to explain that they are intellectualising emotions, examining them instead of feeling them. That emotions are the things your body is doing, from the heightened heart rate to the flush of cheeks to the sting of eyes to sensation of muscles pulling your mouth unheeded into a smile.

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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/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/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.