Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30529341›Full record

ArticlePhysiology & behavior2019

3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) impairs the extinction and reconsolidation of fear memory in rats.

Holly S Hake, Jazmyne K P Davis, River R Wood, Margaret K Tanner, Esteban C Loetz, Anais Sanchez, Mykola Ostrovskyy, Erik B Oleson, Jim Grigsby, Rick Doblin and 1 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Physiology & behavior, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
34citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 21% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  3. MDMA alters fear extinction, and reduces alcohol consumption in inbred alcohol preferring iP rats but not outbred Wistar rats.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
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  19. Therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics and entactogens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Holly S HakeDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: holly.hake@ucdenver.edu.
Jazmyne K P DavisDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: jazmyne.davis@ucdenver.edu.
River R WoodDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: river.wood@ucdenver.edu.
Margaret K TannerDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: margaret.tanner@ucdenver.edu.
Esteban C LoetzDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: esteban.loetz@ucdenver.edu.
Anais SanchezDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: anais.sanchez@ucdenver.edu.
Mykola OstrovskyyDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: mykola.ostrovskyy@ucdenver.edu.
Erik B OlesonDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: erik.oleson@ucdenver.edu.
Jim GrigsbyDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. Electronic address: jim.grigsby@ucdenver.edu.
Rick DoblinMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, 1115 Mission Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-9989, USA.
Benjamin N GreenwoodDepartment of Psychology, University of Colorado Denver, PO Box 173364, Denver, CO 80217-3364, USA. Electronic address: benjamin.greenwood@ucdenver.edu.
University of Colorado Denver · USMultidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies · US

Funding

Nigrostriatal Dopaminergic Modulation of Fear ExtinctionR15MH114026 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · PI GREENWOOD, BEN N · 2017 to 2020
$933k
NIMH NIH HHS R15 MH114026
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Clinical trials have demonstrated that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) paired with psychotherapy is more effective at reducing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy, alone or in combination. The processes through which MDMA acts to enhance psychotherapy are not well understood. Given that fear memories contribute to PTSD symptomology, MDMA could augment psychotherapy by targeting fear memories. The current studies investigated the effects of a single administration of MDMA on extinction and reconsolidation of cued and contextual fear memory in adult, male Long-Evans rats. Rats were exposed to contextual or auditory fear conditioning followed by systemic administration of saline or varying doses of MDMA (between 1 and 10 mg/kg) either 30 min before fear extinction training or immediately after brief fear memory retrieval (i.e. during the reconsolidation phase). MDMA administered prior to fear extinction training failed to enhance fear extinction memory, and in fact impaired drug-free cued fear extinction recall without impacting later fear relapse. MDMA administered during the reconsolidation phase, but not outside of the reconsolidation phase, produced a delayed and persistent reduction in conditioned fear. These findings are consistent with a general memory-disrupting effect of MDMA and suggest that MDMA could augment psychotherapy by modifying fear memories during reconsolidation without necessarily enhancing their extinction.

Indexed as

AnimalsConditioning, PsychologicalCuesExtinction, PsychologicalFearMaleMemoryMemory ConsolidationN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineRatsRats, Long-EvansSerotonin AgentsN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineSerotonin AgentsFear conditioningFear extinctionFear memoryPost-traumatic stress disorderReconsolidationRenewal

Identifiers

PMID30529341
PMCPMC6557441
OpenAlexW2903547094

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.