Abstract
Background:3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is being actively researched as an adjunct to psychotherapy. It may be beneficial to trust, empathy and cooperative behaviour due to its acute prosocial effects.Aim:To test (a) the acute effects of MDMA on measures of empathy, trust and cooperative behaviour, and (b) subacute changes in mood three days after MDMA administration.Methods:Twenty-five participants (n=7 female), participated in this double-blind, repeated-measures, placebo-controlled experiment. Participants attended two acute sessions, one week apart. Each acute session was followed by a subacute session three days later. Participants received placebo (100 mg ascorbic acid) during one acute session, and MDMA (100 mg MDMA-HCl) at the other, with order counterbalanced. Participants completed the following tasks assessing prosocial behaviour: a trust investment task, a trustworthy face rating task, an empathic stories task, a public project game, a dictator game and an ultimatum game. Participants reported subjective effects. Blood was taken pre-drug, 2 and 4 hours post-drug, and tested for plasma MDMA levels.Results:MDMA acutely increased self-reported ‘closeness to others’ and ‘euphoria’ and increased plasma concentrations of MDMA. MDMA did not significantly change task-based empathy, trust or cooperative behaviour. Using Bayesian analyses, we found evidence that MDMA and placebo did not differ in their effects on empathy and cooperative behaviour. MDMA did not significantly change subacute mood and this was supported by our Bayesian analyses.Conclusion:Despite augmentation in plasma MDMA levels and subjective drug effects, we found no increase in prosocial behaviour in a laboratory setting.
Highlights
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a drug being actively researched as a possible adjunct to psychotherapy, with 17 Phase II clinical trials either ongoing or already completed (Schenberg, 2018)
We examined the prosocial effects of MDMA in a laboratory using a repeated-measures, double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment
We investigated social processes believed to be mechanistically important for MDMA’s benefit as an adjunct to psychotherapy: trust, cooperative behaviour and empathy
Summary
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a drug being actively researched as a possible adjunct to psychotherapy, with 17 Phase II clinical trials either ongoing or already completed (Schenberg, 2018). MDMA consistently induces self-reported prosocial effects when given in clinical trials and when used recreationally (‘recreational MDMA’). For recreational users, these have been reported as an increased feeling of ‘closeness’ to others and greater interactions with others (Baylen and Rosenberg, 2006). Null drug effects on cognitive empathy have been reported (Hysek et al, 2014; Schmid et al, 2014; Gabay et al, 2019; Kuypers et al, 2014). In the same naturalistic study, Stewart and colleagues assessed the effect of recreational MDMA on cooperative behaviour, finding a prosocial effect on both the ultimatum and dictator games. A laboratory experiment of MDMA on the ultimatum game found a prosocial effect (Gabay et al, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
