A Novel Mechanism Might Explain MDMA-Facilitated Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy facilitated with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA [Ecstasy]) might improve post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to preliminary reports that have added to a burgeoning interest in the use of psychedelic drugs to address difficult-to-treat emotional problems (NEJM JW Psychiatry Jul 2018 and Lancet Psychiatry 2018; 5:486). These researchers conducted a complicated series of animal studies into a novel mechanism — a reopening of the critical maturational period for social reward learning — which might underlie this still-unproven effect.

In mice, social conditioned place preference is a learned behavior that is confined to pre-adult developmental periods; this critical period for social learning corresponds with …