The researchers gave MDMA octopus in the name of science

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The next time you have a party, do not forget to invite octopuses.

According to new research published today in Current BiologyResearchers at Johns Hopkins University administered an octopus species to MDMA and the octopus seemed to benefit. The experiment was conducted to study how serotonin is used to promote social behavior.

The prosocial effects of MDMA, closely related to the ecstasy of recreational drugs, are well documented in humans. This often leads to feelings of emotional connection and is currently the subject of late-stage FDA trials for the treatment of PTSD, anxiety, and other mental disorders. When a human is taking MDMA, he binds to a serotonin transporter in the brain to do his magic. It turns out that the gene encoding this serotonin transporter is also found in some species of octopus, although their evolutionary lineage is separated from ours by more than 500 million years.

Although octopuses are generally considered solitary and asocial animals, the presence of this gene to encode the primary binding site of MDMA suggests that octopus could also be sensitive to the prosocial effects of MDMA.

To test this theory, Johns Hopkins researchers used the species Octopus bimaculoids, which is the only species of octopus whose entire genome has been sequenced. Researchers first tested basic social behaviors by placing octopuses in an aquarium with three separate chambers. The central chamber served as a test area, one of the chambers contained another octopus retained by a mesh and a third chamber contained an object that the octopus was to examine.

Experimental Setup Image: Current Biology / Johns Hopkins University

After observing the behavior of simple octopuses, the researchers measured them with MDMA by placing them in a bath containing MDMA for 10 minutes before returning them to the reservoir.

Read more: What we learned from Giving LSD Dolphins

Compared to baseline tests, octopuses spent much more time interacting with each other in the social chamber of the tank when they were in MDMA. In addition, octopuses on MDMA spent much more time touching with their tentacles than sober octopuses. According to the researchers, this suggests that the serotonin transporter that binds to MDMA works similarly in octopus and humans to the extent that it promotes sociality.

"Despite the anatomical differences between the octopus and the human brain, we have shown that there are molecular similarities in the serotonin transporter gene," said Gul Dolen, a researcher at Johns Hopkins, in a statement. "These molecular similarities are sufficient to allow MDMA to induce prosocial behaviors in octopuses."