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Harriet Wit

2 papers in the library · 66 citations · publishing 2012-2023

Papers

Psychoactive drugs and false memory: comparison of dextroamphetamine and delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol on false recognition

Psychopharmacology January 1, 2012 Michael E. Ballard, David A. Gallo, Harriet Wit 38 citations

Amphetamine (AMP) improves true memory for studied words, while THC impairs it, but neither drug significantly changes the tendency to falsely remember nonstudied words compared to placebo. Across participants, the drugs' effects on true memory correlated positively with their effects on false memory, suggesting that encoding processes influenced by these drugs similarly affect both accurate and false recollection. These results come from two within-subjects, double-blind experiments using the Deese/Roediger–McDermott illusion to test recognition memory two days after drug administration.

Drug-induced social connection: both MDMA and methamphetamine increase feelings of connectedness during controlled dyadic conversations

Scientific Reports September 22, 2023 Hanna Molla, Royce Lee, Sonja Lyubomirsky et al. 28 citations

Both MDMA and methamphetamine increase feelings of connectedness during casual conversations with an unfamiliar partner, and both drugs raise oxytocin levels. However, only after MDMA are oxytocin levels linked to feeling closer to the partner. The study involved 18 participants given MDMA or placebo and 19 given methamphetamine or placebo. These results reveal a new aspect of MDMA's pro-social effects and show that methamphetamine produces a similar behavioral effect, though through a different biological pathway.