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Amphetamine as a social drug: effects of d-amphetamine on social processing and behavior

Amphetamine as a social drug: effects of d-amphetamine on social processing and behavior
Amphetamine as a social drug: effects of d-amphetamine on social processing and behavior
Rationale: drug users often report using drugs to enhance social situations, and empirical studies support the idea that drugs increase both social behavior and the value of social interactions. One way drugs may affect social behavior is by altering social processing, for example by decreasing perceptions of negative emotion in others.

Objectives: we examined effects of d-amphetamine on processing of emotional facial expressions, and on the social behavior of talking. We predicted amphetamine would enhance attention, identification and responsivity to positive expressions, and that this in turn would predict increased talkativeness.

Methods: over three sessions, 36 healthy normal adults received placebo, 10mg, and 20mg d-amphetamine under counterbalanced double-blind conditions. At each session we measured processing of happy, fearful, sad and angry expressions using an attentional visual probe task, a dynamic emotion identification task, and measures of facial muscle activity. We also measured talking.

Results: amphetamine decreased the threshold for identifying all emotions, increased negative facial responses to sad expressions, and increased talkativeness. Contrary to our hypotheses, amphetamine did not alter attention to, identification of or facial responses to positive emotions specifically. Interestingly, the drug decreased the threshold to identify all emotions, and this effect was uniquely related to increased talkativeness, even after controlling for overall sensitivity to amphetamine.

Conclusions: the results suggest that amphetamine may encourage sociability by increasing sensitivity to subtle emotional expressions. These findings suggest novel social mechanisms that may contribute to the rewarding effects of amphetamine.
0033-3158
199-210
Wardle, M.
84dd7464-728c-4394-a8ff-95ffea66464f
Garner, M.
3221c5b3-b951-4fec-b456-ec449e4ce072
Munafo, M.
a815b5c6-5bd7-488e-a1bf-0068c932a844
de Wit, H.
aaa5fff9-3df3-4be9-8304-bbed848374f6
Wardle, M.
84dd7464-728c-4394-a8ff-95ffea66464f
Garner, M.
3221c5b3-b951-4fec-b456-ec449e4ce072
Munafo, M.
a815b5c6-5bd7-488e-a1bf-0068c932a844
de Wit, H.
aaa5fff9-3df3-4be9-8304-bbed848374f6

Wardle, M., Garner, M., Munafo, M. and de Wit, H. (2012) Amphetamine as a social drug: effects of d-amphetamine on social processing and behavior. Psychopharmacology, 223 (2), 199-210. (doi:10.1007/s00213-012-2708-y).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Rationale: drug users often report using drugs to enhance social situations, and empirical studies support the idea that drugs increase both social behavior and the value of social interactions. One way drugs may affect social behavior is by altering social processing, for example by decreasing perceptions of negative emotion in others.

Objectives: we examined effects of d-amphetamine on processing of emotional facial expressions, and on the social behavior of talking. We predicted amphetamine would enhance attention, identification and responsivity to positive expressions, and that this in turn would predict increased talkativeness.

Methods: over three sessions, 36 healthy normal adults received placebo, 10mg, and 20mg d-amphetamine under counterbalanced double-blind conditions. At each session we measured processing of happy, fearful, sad and angry expressions using an attentional visual probe task, a dynamic emotion identification task, and measures of facial muscle activity. We also measured talking.

Results: amphetamine decreased the threshold for identifying all emotions, increased negative facial responses to sad expressions, and increased talkativeness. Contrary to our hypotheses, amphetamine did not alter attention to, identification of or facial responses to positive emotions specifically. Interestingly, the drug decreased the threshold to identify all emotions, and this effect was uniquely related to increased talkativeness, even after controlling for overall sensitivity to amphetamine.

Conclusions: the results suggest that amphetamine may encourage sociability by increasing sensitivity to subtle emotional expressions. These findings suggest novel social mechanisms that may contribute to the rewarding effects of amphetamine.

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More information

Published date: 2012
Organisations: Clinical Neuroscience

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 336919
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/336919
ISSN: 0033-3158
PURE UUID: 03611b94-7858-4019-9ffe-0d577d67c28d
ORCID for M. Garner: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9481-2226

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 Apr 2012 13:33
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:12

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Contributors

Author: M. Wardle
Author: M. Garner ORCID iD
Author: M. Munafo
Author: H. de Wit

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