Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39068642›Full record

ReviewJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2024

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a connectogen with empathogenic, entactogenic, and still further connective properties: It is time to reconcile "the great entactogen-empathogen debate".

Kurt Stocker, Matthias E Liechti

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review 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. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Moving beyond 5-HTPsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  3. Review
  4. Stereoselective, sex-dependent 5-HTNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. The psychedelic-peptide paradox: a hormetic hypothesis.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2025
    Review
  7. Article
  8. 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

2 authors.

Kurt StockerChair of Cognitive Science, Department of Humanities, Social, and Political Sciences, ETH Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-6161-7114
Matthias E LiechtiPsychopharmacology Research, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Department of Clinical Research, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-1765-9659

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Science on methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and MDMA-like substances is faced with the unique situation that this class of psychoactive agents is referred to with two basic names for its effects on the mind: empathogens and entactogens. Empathogen usually refers to the prosocial, empathetic, and openness properties of MDMA, while entactogen usually refers to the introspective and self-awareness properties of this substance. We review the origin and usage of the two terms, and also review recent findings that support that MDMA is an empathogen and an entactogen. Mostly no specified reasons can be detected whether research groups employ the term "entactogenic," "empathogenic," both, or neither, in their publications. A case is made that the use of two basic names for the effects on the mind for the same class of psychoactive substances is not warranted because a holistic principle underlies empathogenic and entactogenic properties of MDMA: an intense feeling of connection. Entactogenic characterizes being deeply connected to oneself, and empathogenic being deeply connected to others. We therefore suggest the name

Indexed as

HallucinogensN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamineAnimalsHumansPsychotropic DrugsHallucinogensN-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetaminePsychotropic DrugsempathogenentactogenMDMA

Identifiers

PMID39068642
PMCPMC11311894

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.