ReviewJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2016
The effects of MDMA on socio-emotional processing: Does MDMA differ from other stimulants?
Review in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07664631 (Effects of Stimulant Medications in PTSD), which is not on this map. Cited by 57 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Stimulant Medications in PTSD
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
- A meta-analytic analysis of the acute effects of MDMA on empathy and emotion recognition in humans.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Systematic review: pain, cognition, and cardioprotection-unpacking oxytocin's contributions in a sport context.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Pooled it
- MDMA and memory, addiction, and depression: dose-effect analysis.Psychopharmacology · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The empathogen 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, but not methamphetamine, increases feelings of global trust.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Trial
- The 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine enhances early visual processing for salient socio-emotional stimuli.The European journal of neuroscience · 2024Trial
- MDMA enhances positive affective responses to social feedback.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Trial
- A randomized controlled trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and fear extinction retention in healthy adults.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2022Trial
- Sleep Quality Improvements After MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Journal of traumatic stress · 2021Trial
- Long-term follow-up outcomes of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of PTSD: a longitudinal pooled analysis of six phase 2 trials.Psychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Posttraumatic Growth After MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.Journal of traumatic stress · 2020Trial
- Effects of MDMA on attention to positive social cues and pleasantness of affective touch.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2019Trial
- 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy for treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized phase 2 controlled trial.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2018Trial
- Acute effects of lisdexamfetamine and D-amphetamine on social cognition and cognitive performance in a placebo-controlled study in healthy subjects.Psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- MDMA Impairs Both the Encoding and Retrieval of Emotional Recollections.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- Direct comparison of the acute subjective, emotional, autonomic, and endocrine effects of MDMA, methylphenidate, and modafinil in healthy subjects.Psychopharmacology · 2018Trial
- History, pharmacology and therapeutic mechanisms of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).British journal of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Case Report: Amplified psychoanalysis? Psychoanalysis, OCD and MDMA in a clinical case study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- 5-HTMolecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy: Potential Benefits and Challenges in Mental Health Treatment.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a popular recreational drug that enhances sociability and feelings of closeness with others. These "prosocial" effects appear to motivate the recreational use of MDMA and may also form the basis of its potential as an adjunct to psychotherapy. However, the extent to which MDMA differs from prototypic stimulant drugs, such as dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate, in either its behavioral effects or mechanisms of action, is not fully known. The purpose of this review is to evaluate human laboratory findings of the social effects of MDMA compared to other stimulants, ranging from simple subjective ratings of sociability to more complex elements of social processing and behavior. We also review the neurochemical mechanisms by which these drugs may impact sociability. Together, the findings reviewed here lay the groundwork for better understanding the socially enhancing effects of MDMA that distinguish it from other stimulant drugs, especially as these effects relate to the reinforcing and potentially therapeutic effects of the drug.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.