Effects of MDMA Injections on the Behavior of Socially-Housed Long-Tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis).
PLoS ONE June 11, 2016 Sébastien Ballesta, Gilles Reymond, Matthieu Pozzobon et al. 7 citations
MDMA, known to increase prosocial behaviors in humans and rodents, was tested on three young male long-tailed macaques. Subcutaneous injections of 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 mg/kg were given, and over 200 hours of behavioral data were recorded using an automatic 3D tracking system. At 1.5 mg/kg only, MDMA significantly increased social grooming, confirming a prosocial effect in macaques. At 1.5 and 2.0 mg/kg, foraging decreased, consistent with an anorexigenic effect. At 2.0 mg/kg, locomotion increased, matching its stimulant property. At 1.0 mg/kg, object play increased, possibly reflecting reduced inhibition or increased motivation. These results support MDMA's effectiveness for studying primate social behavior neurobiology.