Would ecstasy help survivors be better at social engagement post-stroke? Since social engagement is a needed construct for better recovery. Ask your doctor, do not self medicate.
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‘Ecstasy’ as a social drug: MDMA preferentially affects responses to emotional stimuli with social content
+ Author Affiliations
- Correspondence should be addressed to Harriet de Wit, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 5841S. Maryland Ave., MC3077, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. E-mail: hdew@uchicago.edu
- Received November 6, 2013.
- Revision received February 7, 2014.
- Accepted February 10, 2014.
Abstract
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA,
‘ecstasy’) is used recreationally to improve mood and sociability, and
has generated
clinical interest as a possible adjunct to
psychotherapy. One way that MDMA may produce positive ‘prosocial’
effects is by
changing responses to emotional stimuli, especially
stimuli with social content. Here, we examined for the first time how
MDMA affects subjective responses to positive,
negative and neutral emotional pictures with and without social content.
We
hypothesized that MDMA would dose-dependently
increase reactivity to positive emotional stimuli and dampen reactivity
to negative
stimuli, and that these effects would be most
pronounced for pictures with people in them. The data were obtained from
two
studies using similar designs with healthy
occasional MDMA users (total N = 101). During each session,
participants received MDMA (0, 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg oral), and then rated
their positive and negative
responses to standardized positive, negative and
neutral pictures with and without social content. MDMA increased
positive
ratings of positive social pictures, but reduced
positive ratings of non-social positive pictures. We speculate this
‘socially
selective’ effect contributes to the prosocial
effects of MDMA by increasing the comparative value of social contact
and closeness
with others. This effect may also contribute to its
attractiveness to recreational users.
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