Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38279662›Full record

Trial reportJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2024

MDMA enhances positive affective responses to social feedback.

Anya K Bershad, David T Hsu, Harriet de Wit

Registry-linked trialOpen access · greenAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03790618 (Effect of Stimulant Drugs on Social Perception), which is not on this map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
4.5field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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.

NCT03790618 phase1completednot on this map

Effect of Stimulant Drugs on Social Perception

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of ChicagoRan2016 to 2018Enrolled36ConditionsHealthy, MDMA ('Ecstasy')Arms3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, methamphetamine
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Intermittent MDMA Attenuates Ovariectomy-induced Bone Loss via a Gut Microbiota-Bone Axis.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
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

3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Anya K BershadDepartment of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3011-3730
David T HsuDepartment of Psychiatry, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
Harriet de WitDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7211-8994
Neurobehavioral Systems · USStony Brook School · USUniversity of Chicago · US

Funding

Determinants of Drug Preference in Humans--Administrative SupplementR01DA002812 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · PI DE WIT, HARRIET · 1985 to 2024
$10.6M
MDMA as a Treatment for Social Deficits in SchizophreniaDP5OD036172 · OD · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Anya K Bershad · 2023 to 2026
$2.0M
NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA002812NIH HHS DP5 OD036172
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe prosocial compound ± 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is an amphetamine derivative that has shown promise as an adjunct to psychotherapy in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. MDMA increases positive responses to social images, and it has been suggested that the ability of MDMA to positively bias social perception may underlie its therapeutic efficacy as a psychotherapy adjunct. However, the effect of the compound on affective responses to positive or negative social feedback has not been tested.

aimsIn this study, we aimed to test the effects of MDMA compared to placebo and the prototypical stimulant, methamphetamine (MA), on responses to positive and negative social feedback.

methodsThis was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial (NCT03790618), comparing the effects of two doses of MDMA (0.75 mg/kg, 1.5 mg/kg) to both placebo and MA (20 mg) on responses to a personalized social feedback task, similar to a dating app, in healthy adult volunteers ages 18-40 ( RESULTS/OUTCOMES: The high dose of MDMA increased positive affective responses to social feedback. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATIONS: These findings suggest one process by which MDMA may facilitate social connection. Further work is needed to understand how MDMA affects responses to more generalized types of social feedback and to understand these effects in clinical populations.

Indexed as

HallucinogensMethamphetamineN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdultAmphetamineDouble-Blind MethodFeedbackFemaleHumansMaleAmphetamineHallucinogensMethamphetamineN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineMDMAsocial acceptancesocial feedbacksocial rejection

Identifiers

PMID38279662
PMCPMC11406195
OpenAlexW4391280546

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.