Trial reportJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2022
A randomized controlled trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and fear extinction retention in healthy adults.
Trial report in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03181763 (Evaluation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), which is not on this map. Cited by 27 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Evaluation of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on Startle Response
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- MDMA for the treatment of misophonia, a proposal.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial.Nature medicine · 2023Trial
- Subjective and neurocognitive profiling of clinical doses of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in healthy volunteers: implications for therapeutic use.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- 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 · 2026Article
- History, pharmacology and therapeutic mechanisms of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).British journal of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Stereoselective, sex-dependent 5-HTNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
- A systematic review of spontaneous recovery in human fear conditioning.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- The METEMP protocol: Massed exposure therapy enhanced with MDMA for PTSD.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2025Article
- A biopsychosocial model of MDMA-assisted therapy in application: Dyadic One Session Treatment for specific phobia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Harnessing neuroplasticity with psychoplastogens: the essential role of psychotherapy in psychedelic treatment optimization.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Review
- MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD in adolescents: rationale, potential, risks, and considerations.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2024Review
- Psilocybin Facilitates Fear Extinction: Importance of Dose, Context, and Serotonin Receptors.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2024Article
- The entactogen 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) as a treatment aid in psychotherapy and its safety concerns.Archives of toxicology · 2024Review
- Methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a connectogen with empathogenic, entactogenic, and still further connective properties: It is time to reconcile "the great entactogen-empathogen debate".Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- The Psychedelic Future of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatment.Current neuropharmacology · 2024Review
- Therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics and entactogens.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Review
- The conceptual framework for the therapeutic approach used in phase 3 trials of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The Therapeutic Potential of Amphetamine-like Psychostimulants.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Alleviating anxiety and taming trauma: Novel pharmacotherapeutics for anxiety disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder.Neuropharmacology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFear conditioning and extinction are well-characterized cross-species models of fear-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and recent animal data suggest that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) enhances fear extinction retention.
aimsThis study investigated the effect of MDMA on fear learning, extinction training, and retention in healthy humans.
methodsThe study involved a randomized placebo-controlled, two-group, parallel design trial in a sample of healthy adults, age 21-55 recruited from a major metropolitan area. The experimental paradigm included a fear acquisition session followed by an extinction training session 24 hours later, and 2 hours after study drug administration. Fear extinction retention was measured 48 hours after extinction training. Participants (
resultsResults indicated a significant main effect of session between extinction training and retention with no significant group differences. Significantly more participants in the MDMA group retained extinction learning compared to the placebo group (χ
conclusionAlthough we did not observe the hypothesized facilitation of extinction retention, the findings from this initial human trial provide compelling rationale to continue to explore the potential for MDMA to impact extinction retention.Clinical Trials Registry Name and Identifier: Evaluation of MDMA on Startle Response (NCT0318176) https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03181763?term = MDMA&draw = 2&rank = 9.
Indexed as
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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.