Inhaled oxytocin looks very promising for relieving some of the symptoms of schizophrenia: the inability to perceive emotion in others, to respond appropriately to social cues, mistrust of others and the tendency to come to the wrong conclusions about other people's actions.

Speaking at a National Institute of Mental Health symposium, Deanna Kelly, Pharm.D., of the University of Maryland, presented the results of several studies that showed improvement in patients with schizophrenia.

According to the report in Clinical Psychiatry News,

"Emerging clinical data demonstrate that oxytocin administrated via the intranasal route, which is believed to provide a favorable pathway for the peptide into the central nervous system, provides benefit with respect to emotion recognition, positive and negative core symptoms, social cognitive measures, and neurocognition."

PHOTO: Dark Botxy