PMID- 20947066
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20110407
LR  - 20220408
IS  - 1873-2402 (Electronic)
IS  - 0006-3223 (Print)
IS  - 0006-3223 (Linking)
VI  - 68
IP  - 12
DP  - 2010 Dec 15
TI  - Is ecstasy an "empathogen"? Effects of +/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine on 
      prosocial feelings and identification of emotional states in others.
PG  - 1134-40
LID - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.08.003 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Users of +/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), "ecstasy," report 
      that the drug produces unusual psychological effects, including increased empathy 
      and prosocial feelings. These "empathogenic" effects are cited as reasons for 
      recreational ecstasy use and also form the basis for the proposed use of MDMA in 
      psychotherapy. However, they have yet to be characterized in controlled studies. 
      Here, we investigate effects of MDMA on an important social cognitive capacity, 
      the identification of emotional expression in others, and on socially relevant 
      mood states. METHODS: Over four sessions, healthy ecstasy-using volunteers (n = 
      21) received MDMA (.75, 1.5 mg/kg), methamphetamine (METH) (20 mg), and placebo 
      under double-blind, randomized conditions. They completed self-report ratings of 
      relevant affective states and undertook tasks in which they identified emotions 
      from images of faces, pictures of eyes, and vocal cues. RESULTS: MDMA (1.5 mg/kg) 
      significantly increased ratings of feeling "loving" and "friendly", and MDMA (.75 
      mg/kg) increased "loneliness". Both MDMA (1.5 mg/kg) and METH increased 
      "playfulness"; only METH increased "sociability". MDMA (1.5 mg/kg) robustly 
      decreased accuracy of facial fear recognition relative to placebo. CONCLUSIONS: 
      The drug MDMA increased "empathogenic" feelings but reduced accurate 
      identification of threat-related facial emotional signals in others, findings 
      consistent with increased social approach behavior rather than empathy. This 
      effect of MDMA on social cognition has implications for both recreational and 
      therapeutic use. In recreational users, acute drug effects might alter social 
      risk-taking while intoxicated. Socioemotional processing alterations such as 
      those documented here might underlie possible psychotherapeutic benefits of this 
      drug; further investigation of such mechanisms could inform treatment design to 
      maximize active components of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.
CI  - Copyright (c) 2010 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All 
      rights reserved.
FAU - Bedi, Gillinder
AU  - Bedi G
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 
      Illinois 60637, USA. GB2326@columbia.edu
FAU - Hyman, David
AU  - Hyman D
FAU - de Wit, Harriet
AU  - de Wit H
LA  - eng
GR  - R01 DA002812/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - R01 DA002812-28/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - DA02812/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
DEP - 20101014
PL  - United States
TA  - Biol Psychiatry
JT  - Biological psychiatry
JID - 0213264
RN  - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
CIN - Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Dec 15;68(12):1082-3. PMID: 21130221
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Affect/*drug effects
MH  - Empathy/*drug effects
MH  - Facial Expression
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Methamphetamine/pharmacology
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*pharmacology
MH  - Photic Stimulation/methods
MH  - Psychomotor Performance/drug effects
MH  - Self Report
PMC - PMC2997873
MID - NIHMS229652
EDAT- 2010/10/16 06:00
MHDA- 2011/04/08 06:00
PMCR- 2011/12/15
CRDT- 2010/10/16 06:00
PHST- 2009/08/03 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2010/08/04 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2010/08/05 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2010/10/16 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2010/10/16 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2011/04/08 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2011/12/15 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - S0006-3223(10)00817-6 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.08.003 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Biol Psychiatry. 2010 Dec 15;68(12):1134-40. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.08.003. 
      Epub 2010 Oct 14.