MDMA enhances emotional empathy and prosocial behavior
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience October 4, 2013 Cédric M. Hysek, Yasmin Schmid, Linda D. Simmler et al. 356 citations
MDMA (ecstasy) enhances emotional empathy and prosocial behavior in men but impairs recognition of negative emotions like fear, anger, and sadness, especially in women. In a placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover trial with 32 healthy volunteers, MDMA increased explicit and implicit emotional empathy on the Multifaceted Empathy Test and boosted prosocial choices on the Social Value Orientation test in men. It did not affect cognitive empathy but worsened identification of negative facial expressions on the Face Emotion Recognition Task, particularly in women. MDMA also raised plasma cortisol, prolactin, and oxytocin levels, markers linked to social behavior. These effects may explain MDMA's recreational sociability and its potential therapeutic use in psychotherapy for social dysfunction or PTSD.