MDMA makes people more cooperative … but that does not mean more confidence

MDMA club drugs – also known as ecstasy or molly – are often said to increase feelings of emotional closeness and empathy. Now, a new study in England suggests that the drug really has an effect on how people feel and act towards others.

In the study, researchers found that MDMA allowed people to cooperate more, but only with those who were considered trustworthy.

In other words, MDMA does not make people naturally trust others, the researchers said.

The study also revealed that taking MDMA had resulted in an increase in brain activity in areas of the brain believed to be involved in social interactions and in understanding the thoughts and intentions of others people. [6 Party Drugs That May Have Health Benefits]

And since MDMA is also being studied as a treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the new findings are "an important and timely step" to better understand the social and emotional effects of the drug, they wrote. Researchers. their article, published November 19 in The Journal of Neuroscience.

Cooperate or compete

The MDMA, which is illegal in the United States, is known to increase the activity of chemical messengers in the brain due to behavior and mood, especially dopamine and serotonin. But little is known about how different chemical messaging systems in the brain contribute to complex social behavior, such as cooperation, said the researchers.

The new study looked at 20 healthy men aged 20 to 30 who did not suffer from psychiatric or substance use disorders, but who had already taken MDMA at least once.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 100 milligrams of pure MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or placebo before playing a game while their brain was scanned. In the game, called the prisoner's dilemma, participants choose to compete or cooperate with another player. If both players choose to cooperate, they both get points. But if one player chooses to cooperate and the other chooses to compete, the one who has chosen to compete gets all the points.

Participants were told that they were playing against real people, but that in reality they were playing against a computer with preprogrammed responses. The researchers have programmed the computer for it to be either "trustworthy", that is, it cooperates in most games, or "untrustworthy" , meaning that it is competing in most games.

The study found that participants taking MDMA were more likely to cooperate with reputable players than participants taking a placebo. But MDMA had no effect on their cooperation with unreliable actors – those working on MDMA and placebo cooperated with unreliable players at the same pace.

"The MDMA has not brought participants to cooperate with untrustworthy players, any more than normal," said in a statement the lead author of the study, Mitul Mehta, professor of neuroimaging and psychopharmacology at King's College London.

In addition, the study found that when participants were "betrayed" – that is, when they chose to cooperate but their opponent chose to compete – this reduced their tendency to cooperate. in the next match. But those who took the MDMA regained their cooperative behavior more quickly with trusted players, compared to those who took a placebo.

"This tendency to rebuild a relationship has led to closer overall cooperation with reliable partners," said Anthony Gabay, lead author of the Neuroscientist's Study at Oxford University, which has directed work at King's College London.

MDMA has also increased activity in areas of the brain called upper temporal cortex and midcurved cortex. These two areas are thought to be important for understanding the thoughts, beliefs and intentions of others.

The findings may have implications for a number of psychiatric conditions involving problems of "social cognition" or understanding of others' thoughts and emotions. These conditions include depression and schizophrenia.

"Understanding the brain activity underlying social behavior could help identify what's wrong in [these] psychiatric conditions, "said Mehta.

The researchers noted that since the study only included men, it was difficult to know if the results also applied to women.

Originally published on Science live.