OXTR and autism: Evidence for the potentially important role of oxytocin in human parenting may be derived from experimental studies administering oxytocin to individuals with autism, which enhanced their social cognitions and empathic feelings (Bartz and Hollander 2006; Bartz et al. 2011), and in studies relating autism or parental sensitivity to functional variations in the oxytocin receptor gene (Bakermans-Kranenburg and Van IJzendoorn 2008; Jacob et al. 2007; Wu et al. 2005; Ylisaukko-oja et al. 2006).