Social Neuroscience
June 25, 2009
Glenn Dumont, Fred C.g.j. Sweep, R. van der Steen et al.
238 citations
MDMA (ecstasy) causes a strong increase in blood oxytocin levels and enhances feelings of prosociality in healthy people. The changes in prosocial feelings are more closely tied to changes in oxytocin than to changes in MDMA concentration in the blood. This suggests that oxytocin release may be a key mechanism behind the drug's characteristic social effects.
Social Neuroscience
June 21, 2008
Murray R. Thompson, Glenn E. Hunt, Iain S. Mcgregor
48 citations
MDMA (Ecstasy) produces feelings of love and closeness in humans and prosocial effects in animals. In male Wistar rats, a moderate dose (5 mg/kg) increased social interaction, specifically general investigation of other rats while decreasing anogenital sniffing. Analysis of neural activation across 39 brain regions showed that MDMA given in a social context caused considerably greater brain activation than the same dose given to solitary rats. Six brain regions—including the caudate-putamen, medial preoptic area, paraventricular thalamic nucleus, central amygdala, ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, and medial amygdala—showed augmented activation in the social-MDMA group. The nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, and periaqueductal grey were activated only when MDMA was combined with social interaction. These findings suggest MDMA modulates neural circuits regulating affiliative behavior, possibly via oxytocin.
Social Neuroscience
January 20, 2016
Anya K. Bershad, Jessica Weafer, Matthew G. Kirkpatrick et al.
35 citations
MDMA (ecstasy) increases sociability and empathy, likely through the release of oxytocin. A single-letter variation in the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR rs53576) influences how people respond to the drug. In a double-blind, within-subjects study, 68 healthy volunteers with past MDMA experience received placebo, 0.75 mg/kg, or 1.5 mg/kg of MDMA. At the higher dose, individuals with the A/A genotype did not show the increase in sociability seen in G allele carriers. No genotypic differences appeared at the lower dose or in cardiovascular or other subjective effects. The results suggest MDMA-induced sociability depends on oxytocin signaling and that genetic variation in the oxytocin receptor modulates the drug's social effects.
Social Neuroscience
June 1, 2022
Yoshija Walter, Thomas Koenig
Religious experiences during worship are associated with large-scale brain activation patterns involving the auditory network, salience network, and default mode network, but not the network for multisensory integration. In 60 evangelical Christians who continuously rated their sense of God's presence while listening to songs, EEG microstate analysis revealed these neural correlates.
Social Neuroscience
February 1, 2019
Charles Robinson, Mika Armenta, Angela Combs et al.
Loving kindness meditation combined with transcranial direct current stimulation to the right temporoparietal junction led participants to rate neutral and positive images more positively after training, regardless of current strength. No effects on emotional intelligence were found, and no main effects of meditation, electrode placement, or current strength on affect ratings emerged. The interaction of electrode placement and meditation condition was significant, suggesting that loving kindness meditation may enhance positive affective experience when paired with stimulation of the right temporoparietal junction.
Social Neuroscience
June 1, 2018
Mei-Kei Leung, Way K W Lau, Chetwyn C H Chan et al.
Awareness-based compassion meditation (ABCM) training reduced anxiety and right amygdala activity during negative emotion processing compared to relaxation training. Participants who practiced more compassion showed stronger reductions in right amygdala activity. These changes occurred while participants viewed emotional images in a non-meditative state, suggesting that the effects of meditation on emotional reactivity carry over into everyday life. The findings indicate that meditation practice may help manage stress by lowering distress responses even when not actively meditating.
Social Neuroscience
February 1, 2018
Michael A Ferguson, Jared A. Nielsen, Jace B King et al.
A recognizable feeling central to the devotional practice of devout Mormons was reproducibly associated with activation in nucleus accumbens, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and frontal attentional regions. Nucleus accumbens activation preceded peak spiritual feelings by 1–3 seconds and was replicated in four separate tasks. Attentional activation in the anterior cingulate and frontal eye fields was greater in the right hemisphere. The association of abstract ideas and brain reward circuitry may interact with frontal attentional and emotive salience processing, suggesting a mechanism whereby doctrinal concepts may come to be intrinsically rewarding and motivate behavior in religious individuals.