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Home/Research/Placebo/Interpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness

Placebo for Interpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness

8 papers and 11 clinical trials exploring placebo as a treatment for interpersonal functioning & social connectedness.

CompoundComparator / Control

Placebo

Placebo is the most widely referenced comparator in psychedelic clinical research, appearing in over 500 trials. Understanding how placebos are designed, administered, and interpreted is essential to evaluating the evidence base for psychedelic-assisted therapies — and one of the field’s most contested methodological challenges.

Full Placebo profile
IndicationApproximately 300 million individuals worldwide experience issues with social connectedness and interpersonal relations.

Interpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness

Research on psychedelics highlights their potential to enhance interpersonal functioning and social connectedness, particularly through compounds such as psilocybin and MDMA. These compounds may facilitate therapeutic outcomes in various mental health disorders by fostering emotional connectivity and empathy among individuals.

Full Interpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness profile

Academic Research

8 papers
Open Accessindividual

Meditating on psychedelics. A randomized placebo-controlled study of DMT and harmine in a mindfulness retreat

This double-blind, placebo-controlled study (n=40) investigates the effect of DMT-harmine ('pharmahuasca') on meditative states during a 3-day retreat with experienced meditators. It finds that participants who received DMT-harmine reported greater mystical-type experiences, non-dual awareness, and emotional breakthrough during acute effects, as well as greater psychological insight one day later, compared to the placebo group.

Published
September 27, 2024
Journal
Journal of Psychopharmacology
Authors
Meling, D., Egger, K., Aicher, H. D., Redondo, J. J., Mueller, J., Dornbierer, J., Temperli, E., Vasella, E. A., Caflisch, L., Pfeiffer, D. J., Schlomberg, J. T., Smallridge, J. W., Dornbierer, D. A., Scheidegger, M.
Open Accessmeta

Microdosing psychedelics: Current evidence from controlled studies

This systematic review (s=14) compiles double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on microdosing LSD (5-20μg) under laboratory conditions. It reports that acute low doses of LSD affect blood pressure, sleep, neural connectivity, mood, social cognition, and perceptions of pain and time, with noticeable effects at 10-20 μg but not at 5μg. While no serious adverse effects were noted, repeated microdosing did not significantly change mood or cognition.

Published
January 26, 2024
Journal
Biological Psychiatry
Authors
Murphy, R., Muthukumaraswamy, S., De Wit, H.
Open Accessindividual

Effects of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD on self-experience

This re-analysis of an RCT of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD finds that study participants (n=90) had significant improvements in the measures of self-experience (e.g. alexithymia -; the inability to identify & describe emotions experienced by oneself). The change in scores of self-experience correlates with recovery from PTSD.

Published
January 10, 2024
Journal
PLOS ONE
Authors
van der Kolk, B., Wang, J. B., Yehuda, R., Bedrosian, L., Cooker, A., Harrison, C., Mithoefer, M. C., Emerson, A., Doblin, R., Yazar-Klosinski, B.
Open Accessindividual

Separating the agony from ecstasy: R(-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine has prosocial and therapeutic-like effects without signs of neurotoxicity in mice

This mouse study (n=52) compared the two enantiomers R-MDMA of S-MDMA, and their racemic mixture (5.6 -; 7.8 mg/kg) with respect to their prosocial therapeutic effects and adverse neurotoxicity, in mice. Due to a lower potency to release dopamine, R-MDMA exerted fewer adverse effects than SR/S-MDMA, but increased prosocial behavior to a similar magnitude.

Published
October 6, 2017
Journal
Neuropharmacology
Authors
Curry, D. W., Young, M. B., Tran, A. N., Daoud, G. E., Howell, L. L.
Open Accessindividual

Inhibition of serotonin transporters disrupts the enhancement of fear memory extinction by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

This mouse study (n=360) investigated the role of serotonergic neurotransmission in MDMA's (7.8 mg/kg) ability to extinguish fearful memories in mice and found that the selective inhibition of serotonin release via 5-HTT and the inhibition of neurotransmission via 5-HT2A receptors diminished this effect.

Published
July 24, 2017
Journal
Psychopharmacology
Authors
Young, M. B., Norrholm, S. D., Khoury, L. M., Jovanovic, T., Rauch, S. A. M., Reiff, C. M., Dunlop, B. W., Rothbaum, B. O., Howell, L. L.
Open Accessmeta

Pharmacogenetics of ecstasy: CYP1A2, CYP2C19, and CYP2B6 polymorphisms moderate pharmacokinetics of MDMA in healthy subjects

This pooled analysis (n=139) of double-blind, placebo-controlled studies reviews the role of genetic polymorphisms in CYP2C19, CYP2B6, and CYP1A2 in the metabolism of MDMA in humans. The research shows affirmed that these enzymes play a significant role in the metabolism of MDMA to MDA in humans and that genetic polymorphism in CYP2C19 could moderate MDMA's cardiovascular toxicity.

Published
March 1, 2017
Journal
European Neuropsychopharmacology
Authors
Vizeli, P., Schmid, Y., Prestin, K., Meyer Zu Schwabedissen, H. E., Liechti, M. E.

Clinical Trials

11 trials
CompletedPhase I

Prosocial Effects of MDMA (PEM)

Early Phase I randomised crossover study (n=33 actual) testing whether MDMA (100 mg) produces greater prosocial effects when administered with a familiar versus unfamiliar partner in healthy volunteers.

Started
July 21, 2023
Type
interventional
Blinding
triple
Randomized
Yes
Registry ID
NCT05948683
Unknown statusPhase I/II

The Effect of LSD on Neural Synchrony, Prosocial Behavior, and Relationship Quality

This double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial (n=60) investigates the effects of LSD on neural synchrony, prosocial behavior, and relationship quality in healthy romantic couples.

Started
January 1, 2023
Type
interventional
Blinding
double
Randomized
Yes
Registry ID
NCT05670184
CompletedPhase I

Effects of Stimulants on Behavioral and Neural Markers of Social Motivation, Ability, and Neural Markers of Social Function (MASM)

Randomised, triple-blind, crossover early-phase study (n=43) comparing single oral MDMA 125 mg, methamphetamine 20 mg, and placebo in healthy volunteers to assess social motivation, social ability, and neural indices of social function.

Started
May 1, 2022
Type
interventional
Blinding
triple
Randomized
Yes
Registry ID
NCT05379959
CompletedPhase I

Drug Effects on Interpersonal Interaction

This double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial (n=30) investigated the effects of MDMA (100mg) compared to placebo on feelings of closeness and mood in semi-structured dyadic conversations.

Started
August 1, 2021
Type
interventional
Blinding
quadruple
Randomized
Yes
Registry ID
NCT05123716
CompletedPhase I

Neurodynamics of Prosocial Emotional Processing Following Serotonergic Stimulation With N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and Harmine in Healthy Subjects

The aim of the project is to assess brain network dynamics, self-referential information processing and prosociality and learning following the modulation of the serotonin-system by serotonergic-psychoactive compounds.

Started
December 1, 2020
Type
interventional
Blinding
quadruple
Randomized
Yes
Registry ID
NCT04716335
CompletedPhase IV

Effects of Ketamine on Mentalizing and Metacognition in Healthy Volunteers

This randomised controlled trial (n=70) investigated the effects of ketamine on mentalizing and metacognition in healthy volunteers.

Started
June 15, 2019
Type
interventional
Blinding
triple
Randomized
Yes
Registry ID
NCT05320991

Explore further

Search all Placebo papers Search all Interpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness trials Full Placebo profile Full Interpersonal Functioning & Social Connectedness profile