title: Effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine on socioemotional feelings, authenticity, and autobiographical disclosure in healthy volunteers in a controlled setting.
abstract: The drug 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy", "molly") is a widely used illicit drug and experimental adjunct to psychotherapy. MDMA has unusual, poorly understood socioemotional effects, including feelings of interpersonal closeness and sociability. To better understand these effects, we conducted a small (n=12) within-subjects double-blind placebo controlled study of the effects of 1.5 mg/kg oral MDMA on social emotions and autobiographical disclosure in a controlled setting. MDMA displayed both sedative- and stimulant-like effects, including increased self-report anxiety. At the same time, MDMA positively altered evaluation of the self (i.e. increasing feelings of authenticity) while decreasing concerns about negative evaluation by others (i.e. decreasing social anxiety). Consistent with these feelings, MDMA increased how comfortable participants felt describing emotional memories. Overall, MDMA produced a prosocial syndrome that seemed to facilitate emotional disclosure and that appears consistent with the suggestion that it represents a novel pharmacological class.
authors.affiliation: Baggott.Net, Redwood City, CA, USA matthew@baggott.net.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Baggott
authors.affiliation: Division of Biostatistics, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Coyle
authors.affiliation: Baggott.Net, Redwood City, CA, USA Addiction and Pharmacology Research Laboratory, Friends Research Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Siegrist
authors.affiliation: Addiction and Pharmacology Research Laboratory, Friends Research Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kathleen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Garrison
authors.affiliation: Addiction and Pharmacology Research Laboratory, Friends Research Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Gantt P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.affiliation: Addiction and Pharmacology Research Laboratory, Friends Research Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Mendelson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D030881:Disclosure; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004644:Emotions / Q000187:drug effects*; D004645:Empathy / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006213:Hallucinogens / Q000494:pharmacology*; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012919:Social Behavior
chemical_list: D006213:Hallucinogens; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
keywords: 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine; anxiety; authenticity; ecstasy; emotion; entactogen; interpersonal; social