PMID- 25735993
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160222
LR  - 20150605
IS  - 1461-7285 (Electronic)
IS  - 0269-8811 (Linking)
VI  - 29
IP  - 6
DP  - 2015 Jun
TI  - Prosocial effects of MDMA: A measure of generosity.
PG  - 661-8
LID - 10.1177/0269881115573806 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces "prosocial" effects 
      that contribute to its recreational use. Few studies have examined the cognitive 
      and behavioral mechanisms by which MDMA produces these effects. Here we examined 
      the effect of MDMA on a specific prosocial effect, i.e. generosity, using a task 
      in which participants make decisions about whether they or another person will 
      receive money (Welfare Trade-Off Task; WTT). METHODS: The project included one 
      study without drug administration and one with MDMA. In Study 1, we administered 
      the WTT to healthy adults (N = 361) and examined their performance in relation to 
      measures of personality and socioeconomic status. In Study 2, healthy volunteers 
      with MDMA experience (N = 32) completed the WTT after MDMA administration (0, 
      0.5, or 1.0 mg/kg). RESULTS: As expected, in both studies participants were more 
      generous with a close friend than an acquaintance or stranger. In Study 1, WTT 
      generosity was related to household income and trait Agreeableness. In Study 2, 
      MDMA (1.0 mg/kg) increased generosity toward a friend but not a stranger, whereas 
      MDMA (0.5 mg/kg) slightly increased generosity toward a stranger, especially 
      among female participants. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the WTT is a 
      valuable, novel tool to assess a component of prosocial behavior, i.e. generosity 
      to others. The findings support growing evidence that MDMA produces prosocial 
      effects, but, as with oxytocin, these appear to depend on the social proximity of 
      the relationships. The brain mechanisms underlying the construct of generosity, 
      or the effects of MDMA on this measure, remain to be determined.
CI  - (c) The Author(s) 2015.
FAU - Kirkpatrick, Matthew
AU  - Kirkpatrick M
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 
      Chicago, IL, USA Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern 
      California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
FAU - Delton, Andrew W
AU  - Delton AW
AD  - Center for Behavioral Political Economy, Department of Political Science, Stony 
      Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA College of Business, Stony Brook 
      University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
FAU - Robertson, Theresa E
AU  - Robertson TE
AD  - College of Business, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
FAU - de Wit, Harriet
AU  - de Wit H
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 
      Chicago, IL, USA hdew@uchicago.edu.
LA  - eng
GR  - DA002812/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - DA032015/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
DEP - 20150303
PL  - United States
TA  - J Psychopharmacol
JT  - Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)
JID - 8907828
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Cognition/drug effects
MH  - Double-Blind Method
MH  - Emotions/*drug effects
MH  - Empathy/*drug effects
MH  - Female
MH  - Hallucinogens/*pharmacology
MH  - Healthy Volunteers
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*pharmacology
MH  - Social Behavior
MH  - Young Adult
OTO - NOTNLM
OT  - MDMA
OT  - generosity
OT  - humans
OT  - individual differences
OT  - personality
OT  - social behavior
EDAT- 2015/03/05 06:00
MHDA- 2016/02/24 06:00
CRDT- 2015/03/05 06:00
PHST- 2015/03/05 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2015/03/05 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/02/24 06:00 [medline]
AID - 0269881115573806 [pii]
AID - 10.1177/0269881115573806 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - J Psychopharmacol. 2015 Jun;29(6):661-8. doi: 10.1177/0269881115573806. Epub 2015 
      Mar 3.