Enhancement of Anandamide-Mediated Endocannabinoid Signaling Corrects Autism-Related Social Impairment.

We recently uncovered a signaling mechanism by which the endocannabinoid anandamide mediates the action of oxytocin, a neuropeptide that is crucial for social behavior, to control social reward. Oxytocin signaling has been implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and social reward is a key aspect of social functioning that is thought to be disrupted in ASD. Therefore, as a proof of principle for the core component of ASD-social impairment-we tested an endocannabinoid-enhancing compound on two widely studied mouse models of ASD, the BTBR and (model of Syndrome).