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The Role Of 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine In The Scientific Community

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The role of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the scientific community is controversial, but recent findings suggest that it could be a promising aid in psychotherapy (Mithoefer et al., 2013). MDMA is a popular recreational drug that has both stimulant and hallucinogenic properties and is known to promote positive mood and enhanced overall sociability in users (Liechti et al., 2001). An overwhelming amount of past research on MDMA raises concerns about its neurotoxicity, but there is no present consensus on the topic due to both the lack of translatability across species and inconsistent findings (Mueller et al., 2013). Despite the uncertainty about its neurotoxicity, MDMA is presently undergoing trials to test its efficacy as a …show more content…

A 5-HT2A receptor antagonist blocked the social effects of MDMA. A 5-HT2C agonist decreased huddling but did not affect social vocalizations, and a 5-HT1A agonist decreased huddling (Pitts et al., 2017). The researchers concluded that MDMA and its enantiomers increase the frequency of affiliative behaviors and vocalizations in a dose-dependent fashion, and the behavioral effects of MDMA are 5-HT2A receptor dependent (Pitts et al., 2017). This study has many strengths. Squirrel monkeys are an excellent model because they are behaviorally well-characterized and metabolize MDMA quite similarly to humans, which gives the results better translatability to humans than rodent models (Mueller et al., 2013). LMMs were a strong choice for analysis, as they are capable of identifying a relationship between several variables while also reducing the risk of a type I error. Testing both racemic MDMA and its individual enantiomers was critical to improve understanding of each enantiomer’s distinct behavioral effects, which was seldom considered in past studies. Controlling doses by subject mass was also essential—the effects of MDMA are heavily dose-dependent, and skew from dosing error could alter the size of the observed behavioral effect between individuals (Liechti et al., 2001). The use of antagonists and agonists to observe the function of individual receptor subtypes in relation to the behavioral effects of MDMA was critical for improving the pharmacological

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