Effects of MDMA on Emotional and Social Memories

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of MDMA on encoding and retrieval of emotional and social memories in healthy young adults. The study will explore the effects on memory retrieval when the drug is administered 1) before encoding, and 2) before retrieval.

Intervention / Treatment

  • Drug: MDMA
  • Drug: Placebo

Condition or Disease

  • Healthy

Phase

Study Design

Study type: Interventional
Status: Completed
Study results: Has Results
Age: 18 Years to 40 Years   (Adult)
Enrollment: 84 ()
Funded by: Other

Masking

Clinical Trial Dates

Start date: Dec 01, 2014
Primary Completion: Sep 01, 2016
Completion Date: Sep 01, 2016
Study First Posted: Feb 13, 2017
Results First Posted: Jun 29, 2018
Last Updated: Jun 29, 2018

Sponsors / Collaborators

Lead Sponsor: N/A
Responsible Party: N/A

Here, we aim to investigate the effects of MDMA (1 mg/kg) on the encoding and retrieval of positive, negative, social, and neutral memories. The study will use a between subjects design with three groups (N = 20 per group). Two of the groups will be randomly assigned to receive MDMA before one of the two stages of memory: Encoding (ENC) or Retrieval (RET). The third group will receive placebo only (PLC). All three groups will receive capsules before viewing the study materials, and at retrieval two days later, but they will receive MDMA only in the capsule appropriate to their condition, and other capsules will contain placebo.

Participants will participate in two sessions: a viewing session during which they will view emotional and neutral stimuli, followed 48 hours later by a retrieval session, during which there will be a surprise memory test with two components (verbally cued recollection and picture recognition). On all sessions subjects will also complete mood questionnaires.

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All
Minimum Age: 18
Maximum Age: 40

More Details

NCT Number: NCT03050541
Other IDs: 14-1485
Study URL: https://ClinicalTrials.gov/show/NCT03050541
Last updated: Jun 17, 2022