(Press-News.org) MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is a recreational psychedelic drug often used at parties and dance clubs because it creates feelings of closeness and social connection with others. Because of this “empathogenic” effect, researchers are also interested in its potential use as a complement to traditional talk therapy. In fact, two recent successful clinical trials support the use of MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Researchers at the University of Chicago published a study in Scientific Reports on September 22, 2023, that looked more closely at the pharmacological effects of MDMA and how it influences social interactions. In a series of carefully controlled experiments in a laboratory setting, they found that volunteers who took MDMA reported feeling significantly more connected to a conversation partner, compared to partners they conversed with after taking a placebo. Surprisingly, volunteers who took methamphetamine, a stimulant not known for empathogenic effects that acts on a slightly different receptor in the brain, also reported similar feelings of connectedness as MDMA.
“MDMA increased feelings of connection, or feeling in sync with their partner, and how meaningful the conversation was relative to when they took a placebo,” said Hanna Molla, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at UChicago and first author of the new study. “But interestingly, we found the same exact effect with methamphetamine. Pharmacologically, there are distinctions between the drugs, so there might be some differences in terms of the underlying mechanisms to how these drugs produce feelings of closeness.”
Molla works in the lab of Harriet de Wit, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at UChicago and senior author of the paper, where their team studies how different drugs affect social interactions. The new study paired healthy, adult volunteers with a partner they had never met. During some sessions, they were given a 100 mg dose of MDMA in a capsule; other times they were given a placebo. The experiment took place under double blind conditions (i.e. they didn’t know what drug they received), to minimize the influence of expectancies.
Next, the volunteers proceeded to have a structured conversation with their partner. The researchers gave them question prompts intended to start casual conversations about favorite TV shows or favorite holidays, nothing to encourage deep or particularly emotional responses.
The researchers also conducted a similar experiment with methamphetamine (20 mg dose). While this drug is commonly known for its abuse potential, it is also clinically prescribed in small amounts to treat conditions such as narcolepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In terms of receptor actions in the brain, methamphetamine has both similarities and differences from MDMA.
In the studies for both drugs, the volunteers were asked to rate the overall qualities of their partner and the conversation. The researchers also collected saliva samples to measure levels of oxytocin, a hormone associated with strengthening social bonds between people. Volunteers who received MDMA reported feeling more connected and having more positive feelings about their conversation partners. The drug also increased their levels of oxytocin, which had a positive relationship with how close they felt to their partners. Volunteers who received methamphetamine reported similar feelings of closeness with their conversation partners, but these feelings were not related to their oxytocin levels.
Researchers who study MDMA believe one way it could enhance traditional psychotherapy is by increasing the connection between a patient and their therapist, facilitating conversations and helping the patient feel more comfortable about opening up and exploring their emotions.
“When we see that a drug like MDMA is used in a recreational setting, it may be because people believe it makes them more connected. As researchers, we’re interested in what psychological components are involved. Everything we’ve seen with MDMA in controlled laboratory studies suggests that these effects would facilitate psychotherapy and make the process go better,” de Wit said.
“There may be different ways to get people to feel more connected, one mediated by oxytocin as with MDMA, and the other mediated by something else. But it may be that just getting people to talk and have a long conversation makes them feel connected with each other.”
Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01DA002812. Additional authors include Royce Lee from the University of Chicago and Sonja Lyubomirsky from the University of California, Riverside. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
END
MDMA increases feelings of connection during conversation, showing promise for therapy
New research shows that both MDMA and methamphetamine deepened personal connections after guided conversations, suggesting different mechanisms for how these drugs produce feelings of closeness
2023-10-02
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Internationally recognized thoracic oncologist Dr. Taofeek K. Owonikoko named Executive Director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center
2023-10-02
University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, and University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) President and CEO Bert W. O’Malley, MD, announced today that Taofeek K. Owonikoko, MD, PhD, a distinguished physician-scientist with a global reputation in thoracic oncology, has been appointed Executive Director of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMGCCC). Dr. Owonikoko will join the UMSOM faculty as the Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Professor in Oncology in the Department of Medicine and Executive Director of the UMSOM ...
Meat taxes and other livestock emissions regulations could be feasible, acceptable and effective, argue climate researchers
2023-10-02
Meat taxes and other livestock emissions regulations could be feasible, acceptable and effective, argue climate researchers.
####
Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/climate/article?id=10.1371/journal.pclm.0000291
Article Title: High ‘steaks’: Building support for reducing agricultural emissions
Author Countries: Germany, UK
Funding: This work was financially supported by the Robert Bosch foundation (Junior Professorship grant to LM) The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, ...
Accelerated radiation treatment could reduce head and neck cancer patient burden in low- and middle-income countries
2023-10-02
SAN DIEGO, October 2, 2023 — A type of head and neck cancer predominantly diagnosed in people who reside in low- and middle-income countries may be treated effectively with fewer, but higher doses of radiation, a large new international study suggests.
The study – a randomized phase III clinical trial involving 10 countries across four continents – found delivering a course of radiation in 20 rather than 33 treatment sessions was just as effective at controlling cancer for patients with alcohol and tobacco-related, locally advanced disease, without increasing side ...
October issues of American Psychiatric Association journals look at factors influencing depression and PTSD, guidance on handling drugs laced with fentanyl, and more
2023-10-02
The latest issues of three of the American Psychiatric Association’s journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services and The American Journal of Psychotherapy are now available online.
The October issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry is focused on research devoted to understanding factors influencing depression, PTSD, and suicidal behavior. Highlights include:
Genetic Contribution to the Heterogeneity of Major Depressive Disorder: Evidence From a Sibling-Based Design Using Swedish National Registers.
Maternal Perinatal Stress Trajectories and Negative Affect and Amygdala Development in Offspring.
Networks of Neurodevelopmental Traits, Socioenvironmental ...
Men with metastatic prostate cancer live longer thanks to new drugs
2023-10-02
Survival rates for men with metastatic prostate cancer have increased by an average of six months, something which coincides with the gradual introduction of ‘dual treatment’ since 2016. This is according to a register study of all Swedish men diagnosed between 2008 and 2020. The results are published in the medical journal JAMA Network open.
Dual treatment means that patients receive both standard hormone therapy (GnRH therapy) and chemotherapy or androgen receptor blockers. Research has previously shown that men receiving this treatment live approximately one year longer than those receiving GnRH treatment alone.
“Dual treatment for men with newly diagnosed metastatic ...
A more effective experimental design for engineering a cell into a new state
2023-10-02
A strategy for cellular reprogramming involves using targeted genetic interventions to engineer a cell into a new state. The technique holds great promise in immunotherapy, for instance, where researchers could reprogram a patient’s T-cells so they are more potent cancer killers. Someday, the approach could also help identify life-saving cancer treatments or regenerative therapies that repair disease-ravaged organs.
But the human body has about 20,000 genes, and a genetic perturbation could be on a combination of genes or on any of the over 1,000 transcription factors that regulate the genes. ...
How the hippocampus distinguishes true and false memories
2023-10-02
Let’s say you typically eat eggs for breakfast but were running late and ate cereal. As you crunched on a spoonful of Raisin Bran, other contextual similarities remained: You ate at the same table, at the same time, preparing to go to the same job. When someone asks later what you had for breakfast, you incorrectly remember eating eggs.
This would be a real-world example of a false memory. But what happens in your brain before recalling eggs, compared to what would happen if you correctly recalled cereal?
In a paper published in Proceedings ...
Drier savannas, grasslands store more climate-buffering carbon than previously believed
2023-10-02
Photos
Savannas and grasslands in drier climates around the world store more heat-trapping carbon than scientists thought they did and are helping to slow the rate of climate warming, according to a new study.
The study, published online Oct. 2 in Nature Climate Change, is based on a reanalysis of datasets from 53 long-term fire-manipulation experiments worldwide, as well as a field-sampling campaign at six of those sites.
Twenty researchers from institutions around the globe, including two at the University of Michigan, looked at where and why fire has changed the amount of carbon stored in topsoil. They found that within savanna-grassland regions, ...
Ancient architecture inspires a window to the future
2023-10-02
A centuries-old technique for constructing arched stone windows has inspired a new way to form tailored nanoscale windows in porous functional materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).
The method uses a molecular version of an architectural arch-forming “centring formwork“ template to direct the formation of MOFs with pore windows of predetermined shape and size.[1]. New MOFs designed and made in this way range from narrow-windowed materials with gas separation potential to larger-windowed structures with potential medical applications due to their excellent oxygen-adsorption capacity.
“One of the most challenging ...
Climate and human land use both play roles in Pacific island wildfires past and present
2023-10-02
DALLAS (SMU) – It’s long been understood that human settlement contributes to conditions that make Pacific Islands more susceptible to wildfires, such as the devastating Aug. 8 event that destroyed the Maui community of Lahaina. But a new study from SMU fire scientist Christopher Roos published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution shows that climate is an undervalued part of the equation.
Roos, SMU environmental archaeologist and professor of anthropology, traveled with his team to the Sigatoka ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Mammals were adapting from life in the trees to living on the ground before dinosaur-killing asteroid
Low LDL cholesterol levels linked to reduced risk of dementia
Thickening of the eye’s retina associated with greater risk and severity of postoperative delirium in older patients
Almost one in ten people surveyed report having been harmed by the NHS in the last three years
Enhancing light control with complex frequency excitations
New research finds novel drug target for acute myeloid leukemia, bringing hope for cancer patients
New insight into factors associated with a common disease among dogs and humans
Illuminating single atoms for sustainable propylene production
New study finds Rocky Mountain snow contamination
Study examines lactation in critically ill patients
UVA Engineering Dean Jennifer West earns AIMBE’s 2025 Pierre Galletti Award
Doubling down on metasurfaces
New Cedars-Sinai study shows how specialized diet can improve gut disorders
Making moves and hitting the breaks: Owl journeys surprise researchers in western Montana
PKU Scientists simulate the origin and evolution of the North Atlantic Oscillation
ICRAFT breakthrough: Unlocking A20’s dual role in cancer immunotherapy
How VR technology is changing the game for Alzheimer’s disease
A borrowed bacterial gene allowed some marine diatoms to live on a seaweed diet
Balance between two competing nerve proteins deters symptoms of autism in mice
Use of antifungals in agriculture may increase resistance in an infectious yeast
Awareness grows of cancer risk from alcohol consumption, survey finds
The experts that can outsmart optical illusions
Pregnancy may reduce long COVID risk
Scientists uncover novel immune mechanism in wheat tandem kinase
Three University of Virginia Engineering faculty elected as AAAS Fellows
Unintentional drug overdoses take a toll across the U.S. unequally, study finds
A step toward plant-based gelatin
ECMWF unveils groundbreaking ML tool for enhanced fire prediction
The food and fuel that farms itself
Patient- and Community-Level Characteristics Associated With RSV Vaccination
[Press-News.org] MDMA increases feelings of connection during conversation, showing promise for therapyNew research shows that both MDMA and methamphetamine deepened personal connections after guided conversations, suggesting different mechanisms for how these drugs produce feelings of closeness