Substance Use & Misuse
September 2, 2025
Laura Gurrieri, Margaret C. Wardle, Eric L Garland
Background: Polysubstance use is common in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and associated with poor treatment outcomes. Cannabis and cocaine often co-used with alcohol, have no approved medication treatments and respond poorly to common behavioral treatments. Thus, treatments that can reduce use of these substances alongside AUD are critically needed. Objectives: We tested whether...
Neuropsychopharmacology
January 24, 2020
Carla Agurto, Guillermo Cecchi, Raquel Norel et al.
33 citations
Abstract The detection of changes in mental states such as those caused by psychoactive drugs relies on clinical assessments that are inherently subjective. Automated speech analysis may represent a novel method to detect objective markers, which could help improve the characterization of these mental states. In this study, we employed computer-extracted speech features from multiple domains...
Social Neuroscience
January 20, 2016
Anya K. Bershad, Jessica Weafer, Matthew G. Kirkpatrick et al.
35 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy") enhances desire to socialize and feelings of empathy, which are thought to be related to increased oxytocin levels. Thus, variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) may influence responses to the drug. Here, we examined the influence of a single OXTR nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on responses to MDMA in humans. Based on findings that...
Neuropsychopharmacology
June 2014
Matthew G. Kirkpatrick, Royce Lee, Margaret C. Wardle et al.
MDMA (± 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, 'ecstasy') is used recreationally, reportedly because it increases feelings of empathy, sociability, and interpersonal closeness. One line of evidence suggests that MDMA produces these effects by releasing oxytocin, a peptide involved in social bonding. In the current study, we investigated the acute effects of MDMA and oxytocin on social and emotional...
Psychopharmacology
April 12, 2014
Margaret C. Wardle, Harriet de Wit
97 citations
±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) produces “prosocial” effects, such as feelings of empathy and closeness, thought to be important to its abuse and its value in psychotherapy. However, it is not fully understood how MDMA alters basic emotional processes to produce these effects, or whether it produces corresponding changes in actual social behavior. Here, we examined how MDMA...
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
March 27, 2014
Margaret C. Wardle, Matthew G. Kirkpatrick, Harriet de Wit
52 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, 'ecstasy') is used recreationally to improve mood and sociability, and has generated clinical interest as a possible adjunct to psychotherapy. One way that MDMA may produce positive 'prosocial' effects is by changing responses to emotional stimuli, especially stimuli with social content. Here, we examined for the first time how MDMA affects subjective...
Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior
February 2014
Charles G Frye, Margaret C. Wardle, Greg J Norman et al.
3-4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) increases self-reported positive social feelings and decreases the ability to detect social threat in faces, but its effects on experiences of social acceptance and rejection have not been determined. We examined how an acute dose of MDMA affects subjective and autonomic responses to simulated social acceptance and rejection. We predicted that MDMA would...