The Science of MDMA & Its Therapeutic Uses: Benefits & Risks

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 12 June 2023

⏱️ 138 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I discuss Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), which is also commonly known as “ecstasy” or “molly,” including how it works in the brain to cause short- and long- term-shifts in emotional processing and its clinical applications for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), alcohol and other substance-use addictions. I discuss the neuronal mechanisms for how MDMA elevates mood, empathy, motivation, social engagement, and empathy, and reduces “threat detection” and how these effects can synergistically support talk therapy. I also explain the ongoing debate about the potential neurotoxicity of MDMA, myths about the origins and treatments for post-MDMA “crash,” the evolving legal landscape around MDMA use for clinical purposes, and I caution recreational users about the extremely dangerous additives (e.g., fentanyl) now commonly found in black market MDMA. This should be of interest to those curious about MDMA, neuropharmacology, the origins of emotional processing in the brain, empathy, PTDS, neuroplasticity, mental health and psychiatry. For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman Helix Sleep: https://helixsleep.com/huberman ROKA: https://roka.com/huberman HVMN: https://hvmn.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) MDMA “Ecstasy” (00:04:37) Sponsors: Helix Sleep, ROKA, HVMN (00:08:18) MDMA History & Synthesis; Legality (00:14:45) MDMA, Methamphetamine (Meth), Dopamine & Serotonin (00:23:30) MDMA vs Psychedelics vs Ketamine (00:26:54) MDMA & Serotonin 1B Receptor, Subjective Feelings, Trauma (00:33:36) Sponsor: AG1 (Athletic Greens) (00:34:51) Amygdala & Threat Detection, Pro-Social Behavior, MDMA Dosages (00:45:48) Interoception, MDMA & Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (00:52:36) Long-Term Effects, Threat Detection & PTSD (00:56:14) MDMA, Social Connection & Empathy; Meth, SSRIs (01:06:10) Sponsor: LMNT (01:07:22) Oxytocin & MDMA (01:16:10) Safety & Neurotoxicity; Recreational Use, Caffeine & Fentanyl (01:26:36) Is MDMA Neurotoxic?; Poly-Pharmacology, Body Temperature (01:37:07) Post-MDMA “Crash”, Prolactin & P‑5‑P (01:43:07) PTSD & Trauma; Talk Therapy, SSRIs (01:54:09) PTSD Treatment: Talk Therapy + MDMA (02:02:46) MDMA & Addiction; Dissociative PTSD & Empathy (02:09:47) Side-Effects?, MDMA Efficacy & Legality (02:15:22) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac Disclaimer

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Uberman Lab podcast where we discuss science and science-based tools for everyday life.
0:08.7	I'm Andrew Uberman and I'm a professor of neurobiology and
0:12.2	Ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. Today we are discussing MDMA
0:17.5	sometimes referred to as ecstasy or molly.
0:20.8	MDMA stands for metholyne-dioxy methamphetamine. That's right. You heard the word methamphetamine in there and
0:27.1	MDMA has properties similar to methamphetamine but also properties that are very distinct from methamphetamine.
0:34.8	Just as a side note methamphetamine is a commonly used drug of abuse. It is an illicit drug and
0:41.9	It produces some of the greatest and fastest increases in the neuromodulator dopamine of any available drugs on the street or in the clinic
0:50.6	And believe it or not methamphetamine is prescribed as a prescription drug in some very limited clinical uses.
0:57.5	MDMA, metholyne-dioxy methamphetamine, has properties
1:01.6	similar to methamphetamine in that it powerfully promotes the release of dopamine and
1:07.0	It is a stimulant and yet it also powerfully controls the release of serotonin and in doing so
1:14.2	makes MDMA a distinct category of compound from either
1:19.3	classic psychedelics like psilocybin or LSD
1:23.1	which largely work on the serotonin system and tend to produce mystical
1:28.0	experiences and it's also distinct from pure stimulants such as methamphetamine
1:33.4	because MDMA by producing big increases in both
1:37.6	dopamine and serotonin acts as what's called an impatagen. It actually can increase one sense of social connectedness and
1:45.8	empathy not just for other people but for oneself and in that way
1:50.7	MDMA is commonly used as a recreational drug
1:54.0	but also is now being tested and is achieving incredible
1:58.8	early results in clinical trials for its use as an impatagen for the treatment of PTSD in
	...

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