PMID- 31042696
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20200316
LR  - 20220420
IS  - 1740-634X (Electronic)
IS  - 0893-133X (Print)
IS  - 0893-133X (Linking)
VI  - 44
IP  - 10
DP  - 2019 Sep
TI  - Effects of MDMA on attention to positive social cues and pleasantness of 
      affective touch.
PG  - 1698-1705
LID - 10.1038/s41386-019-0402-z [doi]
AB  - The psychostimulant drug +/-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) reportedly 
      produces distinctive feelings of empathy and closeness with others. MDMA 
      increases social behavior in animal models and has shown promise in psychiatric 
      disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress 
      disorder (PTSD). How it produces these prosocial effects is not known. This 
      behavioral and psychophysiological study examined the effects of MDMA, compared 
      with the prototypical stimulant methamphetamine (MA), on two measures of social 
      behavior in healthy young adults: (i) responses to socially relevant, "affective" 
      touch, and (ii) visual attention to emotional faces. Men and women (N = 36) 
      attended four sessions in which they received MDMA (0.75 or 1.5 mg/kg), MA 
      (20 mg), or a placebo in randomized order under double-blind conditions. 
      Responses to experienced and observed affective touch (i.e., being touched or 
      watching others being touched) were assessed using facial electromyography (EMG), 
      a proxy of affective state. Responses to emotional faces were assessed using 
      electrooculography (EOG) in a measure of attentional bias. Subjective ratings 
      were also included. We hypothesized that MDMA, but not MA, would enhance the 
      ratings of pleasantness and psychophysiological responses to affective touch and 
      increase attentional bias toward positive facial expressions. Consistent with 
      this, we found that MDMA, but not MA, selectively enhanced ratings of 
      pleasantness of experienced affective touch. Neither drug altered the ratings of 
      pleasantness of observed touch. On the EOG measure of attentional bias, MDMA, but 
      not MA, increased attention toward happy faces. These results provide new 
      evidence that MDMA can enhance the experience of positive social interactions; in 
      this case, pleasantness of physical touch and attentional bias toward positive 
      facial expressions. The findings are consistent with evidence that the prosocial 
      effects are unique to MDMA relative to another stimulant. Understanding the 
      behavioral and neurobiological processes underlying the distinctive social 
      effects of MDMA is a key step to developing the drug for psychiatric disorders.
FAU - Bershad, Anya K
AU  - Bershad AK
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 
      Chicago, IL, USA.
AD  - University of Chicago Interdisciplinary Scientist Training Program, University of 
      Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
FAU - Mayo, Leah M
AU  - Mayo LM
AUID- ORCID: 0000-0002-0645-4869
AD  - Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and 
      Experimental Medicine, Linkoping University, Linkoping, Sweden.
FAU - Van Hedger, Kathryne
AU  - Van Hedger K
AD  - Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario, 
      London, ON, UK.
FAU - McGlone, Francis
AU  - McGlone F
AD  - School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, 
      Liverpool, UK.
AD  - Institute of Psychology, Health & Society, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, 
      UK.
FAU - Walker, Susannah C
AU  - Walker SC
AD  - School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, 
      Liverpool, UK.
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  - R01 DA002812/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - T32 GM007281/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Comparative Study
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Randomized Controlled Trial
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
DEP - 20190430
PL  - England
TA  - Neuropsychopharmacology
JT  - Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of 
      Neuropsychopharmacology
JID - 8904907
RN  - 0 (Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors)
RN  - 44RAL3456C (Methamphetamine)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors/*pharmacology
MH  - Adult
MH  - Affect/*drug effects
MH  - Attention/*drug effects
MH  - Attentional Bias/drug effects
MH  - Cues
MH  - Double-Blind Method
MH  - Electromyography
MH  - Electrooculography
MH  - Facial Muscles/drug effects/physiology
MH  - Female
MH  - Healthy Volunteers
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Methamphetamine/*pharmacology
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*pharmacology
MH  - Pleasure/*drug effects
MH  - Social Behavior
MH  - Touch Perception/*drug effects
MH  - Young Adult
PMC - PMC6785008
EDAT- 2019/05/03 06:00
MHDA- 2020/03/17 06:00
PMCR- 2020/09/01
CRDT- 2019/05/03 06:00
PHST- 2018/11/30 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2019/04/22 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2019/04/17 00:00 [revised]
PHST- 2019/05/03 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2020/03/17 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2019/05/03 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2020/09/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1038/s41386-019-0402-z [pii]
AID - 402 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/s41386-019-0402-z [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Sep;44(10):1698-1705. doi: 
      10.1038/s41386-019-0402-z. Epub 2019 Apr 30.