Effects of alcohol on speaking in isolated humans

Intimate insight: MDMA changes how people talk about significant others

RATIONALE

±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is widely believed to increase sociability. The drug alters speech production and fluency, and may influence speech content. Here, we investigated the effect of MDMA on speech content, which may reveal how this drug affects social interactions.

METHOD

Thirty-five healthy volunteers with prior MDMA experience completed this two-session, within-subjects, double-blind study during which they received 1.5 mg/kg oral MDMA and placebo. Participants completed a five-minute standardized talking task during which they discussed a close personal relationship (e.g. a friend or family member) with a research assistant. The conversations were analyzed for selected content categories (e.g. words pertaining to affect, social interaction, and cognition), using both a standard dictionary method (Pennebaker's Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC) and a machine learning method using random forest classifiers.

RESULTS

Both analytic methods revealed that MDMA altered speech content relative to placebo. Using LIWC scores, the drug increased use of social and sexual words, consistent with reports that MDMA increases willingness to disclose. Using the machine learning algorithm, we found that MDMA increased use of social words and words relating to both positive and negative emotions.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings are consistent with reports that MDMA acutely alters speech content, specifically increasing emotional and social content during a brief semistructured dyadic interaction. Studying effects of psychoactive drugs on speech content may offer new insights into drug effects on mental states, and on emotional and psychosocial interaction.

MDMA: a social drug in a social context

RATIONALE

The drug ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, "ecstasy," "molly") is thought to produce prosocial effects and enhance social interaction. However, in most laboratory studies to date, the participants have been tested under nonsocial conditions, which may not simulate the effects the drug produces in more naturalistic social settings.

METHODS

Healthy experienced MDMA users participated in three laboratory sessions in which they received MDMA (0.5 or 1.0 mg/kg or placebo, double blind). They were randomly assigned to one of three social conditions, in which they were tested alone (solitary (SOL); N = 10), in the presence of a research assistant (research assistant present (RAP); N = 11) or in the presence of another participant who also received the drug (other participant present (OPP); N = 11).

RESULTS

As expected, MDMA increased heart rate and blood pressure and produced positive subjective effects in all the three groups. It also increased ratings of attractiveness of another person and increased social interaction in RAP and OPP. The social context affected certain responses to the drug. The effects of MDMA were greater in the OPP condition, compared to the SOL or RAP conditions, on measures of "feel drug," "dizzy," and on cardiovascular. But responses to the drug on other measures, including social behavior, did not differ across the conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings provide some support for the idea that drugs produce greater effects when they are used in the presence of other drug users. However, the influence of the social context was modest, and it remains to be determined whether other variables related to social context would substantially alter the effects of MDMA or other drugs.

A window into the intoxicated mind? Speech as an index of psychoactive drug effects

Abused drugs can profoundly alter mental states in ways that may motivate drug use. These effects are usually assessed with self-report, an approach that is vulnerable to biases. Analyzing speech during intoxication may present a more direct, objective measure, offering a unique 'window' into the mind. Here, we employed computational analyses of speech semantic and topological structure after ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; 'ecstasy') and methamphetamine in 13 ecstasy users. In 4 sessions, participants completed a 10-min speech task after MDMA (0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg), methamphetamine (20 mg), or placebo. Latent Semantic Analyses identified the semantic proximity between speech content and concepts relevant to drug effects. Graph-based analyses identified topological speech characteristics. Group-level drug effects on semantic distances and topology were assessed. Machine-learning analyses (with leave-one-out cross-validation) assessed whether speech characteristics could predict drug condition in the individual subject. Speech after MDMA (1.5 mg/kg) had greater semantic proximity than placebo to the concepts friend, support, intimacy, and rapport. Speech on MDMA (0.75 mg/kg) had greater proximity to empathy than placebo. Conversely, speech on methamphetamine was further from compassion than placebo. Classifiers discriminated between MDMA (1.5 mg/kg) and placebo with 88% accuracy, and MDMA (1.5 mg/kg) and methamphetamine with 84% accuracy. For the two MDMA doses, the classifier performed at chance. These data suggest that automated semantic speech analyses can capture subtle alterations in mental state, accurately discriminating between drugs. The findings also illustrate the potential for automated speech-based approaches to characterize clinically relevant alterations to mental state, including those occurring in psychiatric illness.

In the company of others: social factors alter acute alcohol effects

RATIONALE

Alcohol is usually consumed in social contexts. However, the drug has been studied mainly under socially isolated conditions, and our understanding of how social setting affects response to alcohol is limited.

OBJECTIVES

The current study compared the subjective, physiological, and behavioral effects of a moderate dose of alcohol in moderate social drinkers who were tested in either a social or an isolated context and in the presence of others who had or had not consumed alcohol.

METHODS

Healthy men and women were randomly assigned to either a social group tested in pairs (SOC; N = 24), or an isolated group tested individually (ISO; N = 20). They participated in four sessions, in which they received oral alcohol (0.8 g/kg) or placebo on two sessions each, in quasi-randomized order under double-blind conditions. In the SOC condition, the drug conditions of the co-participants were varied systematically: on two sessions, both participants received the same substance (placebo or alcohol) and on the other two sessions one received alcohol while the other received placebo. Cardiovascular measures, breath alcohol levels, and mood were assessed at regular intervals, and measures of social interaction were obtained in the SOC group.

RESULTS

Alcohol produced greater effects on certain subjective measures in the SOC condition compared with the ISO condition, including feelings of intoxication and stimulation, but not on other measures such as feeling sedated or high, or on cardiovascular measures. Within the SOC condition, participants rated themselves as more intoxicated when their partner received alcohol, and paired subjects interacted more when at least one participant received alcohol.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of others enhances some of the subjective and behavioral effects of alcohol, especially the presence of another intoxicated individual. This enhancement of alcohol effects may explain, in part, why it is used in a social context.

The effects of psychoactive drugs and neuroleptics on language in normal subjects and schizophrenic patients: a review

The aim of this survey is to present an overview of research into psychopharmacology as regards the effects of different psychoactive drugs and neuroleptics (NL) on language in normal subjects and schizophrenic patients. Eighteen studies that have investigated the effects of different drugs (alcohol, amphetamines, secobarbital, L-dopa, psilocybin, ketamine, fenfluramine) and neuroleptics (conventional and atypical) on language are reviewed. There are no studies concerning the effects of neuroleptics on language in healthy subjects. The results of the effects of other molecules indicate that language production can be increased (alcohol, amphetamine, secobarbital), rendered more complex (d-amphetamine), more focused (L-dopa) or more unfocused (psilocybin) and clearly impaired (ketamine). For schizophrenic patients, most studies show that conventional neuroleptic treatments, at a therapeutic dosage and in acute or chronic mode, reduce language disorders at all levels (clinic, linguistic, psycholinguistic). In conjunction with other molecules, the classical NL, when administered at a moderate dosage and in chronic mode, modify language in schizophrenia, either by improving the verbal flow and reducing pauses and positive thought disorder (NL + amphetamine) or by inducing an impairment in the language measurements (NL + fenfluramine). Clinical, methodological and theoretical considerations of results are debated in the framework of schizophrenic language disorders.

Exploring psychological benefits associated with moderate alcohol use: a necessary corrective to assessments of drinking outcomes?

The aim of this paper is to identify positive psychological concomitants of moderate alcohol consumption. Current research and public-health perspectives on alcohol emphasize harms disproportionately relative to benefits. The major exception is research establishing beneficial effects of moderate drinking on cardiovascular health and overall mortality. In addition, much observational and experiential data suggest the widespread prevalence of positive drinking experiences. This paper is one of the first attempts since 1985 to codify such benefits in epidemiological terms. Methodological difficulties in accomplishing this include defining moderate drinking, controlling for confounding variables, and establishing causality. Nonetheless, evidence of psychological benefits has been found in experimental, observational, interview, self-report, correlational, and some prospective research. These positive findings are in the areas of subjective health, mood enhancement, stress reduction, sociability, social integration, mental health, long-term cognitive functioning, and work income/disability. Problem drinkers and alcoholics also seek mood and other benefits from alcohol, but are more likely to drink to counteract negative feelings and to support their egos than are social drinkers. It is as yet impossible to determine to what extent moderate alcohol consumption causes positive psychological outcomes and to what extent it is part of a complex pattern of mutually reinforcing variables.

Effects of alcohol and expectancy on self-disclosure and anxiety in male and female social drinkers

To study the effects of alcohol consumption and expectancy on self-disclosure and self-reported anxiety during a social interaction, 32 male and 32 female social drinkers were assigned to one of four groups comprising a 2 x 2 factorial balanced-placebo design. Alcohol expectancy reduced the intimacy level of self-disclosure but not the amount of self-disclosure. Alcohol consumption had no effect. Thus, in contrast to the common view that alcohol functions as a "social lubricant," it served to inhibit social interaction. There was a three-way interaction among alcohol consumption, expectancy, and gender of subjects, such that the largest increase in anxiety was reported by male subjects who expected but did not receive alcohol. Thus, the previously reported inverse relationship between anxiety and self-disclosure was not confirmed, and alcohol's effect on anxiety seems unrelated to its effect on self-disclosure.

Effects of d-amphetamine in grouped versus isolated humans

This study was designed to determine whether the subjective, behavioral or physiological effects of a stimulant drug in humans depend on whether subjects are tested under isolated or social conditions. Forty-two subjects were randomly assigned to either the Social (SOC) or Isolated (ISO) condition. SOC subjects participated in 4 h laboratory sessions in groups of 3 or 4, whereas ISO subjects participated in the sessions alone. All subjects participated in three sessions, during which they received capsules containing d-amphetamine (10 or 20 mg) or placebo, in mixed order under double blind conditions. Subjective, physiological and behavioral measures were obtained at regular intervals, d-amphetamine produced dose-related, prototypic stimulant effects on many measures, including self-reported mood states, behavioral indices and physiological measures. Most of these effects were unaffected by the setting in which subjects were tested (SOC vs ISO). However, body temperature was overall higher in the SOC group, and there was a trend for d-amphetamine to produce greater hyperthermic effects in the SOC group. In addition, 10 mg d-amphetamine increased heart rate in the SOC group but not in the ISO group. The results suggest that, like in laboratory animals, some of the effects of stimulants in humans are greater under aggregated conditions. However, unlike in the animal studies, this observed enhancement of the drug's effects under aggregated conditions was limited to physiological measures and did not apply to other subjective or behavioral measures.

Resistance of voice onset time variability to intoxication

Voice onset times of /d/ and /t/ were measured for 16 adult subjects (age range 21 to 26 years) under conditions of sobriety and intoxication. Subjects consumed beer to reach intoxication levels between 0.075 and 0.100% as measured using a portable breathalyzer test. Analysis indicated consistent variabilities over time for each subject and resistance of VOT variability to alcohol influence.

The behavioral medicine service. An administrative model for biopsychosocial medical care, teaching, and research

The biopsychosocial model has been promoted for its advantages in many important health problems. However, the lack of administrative practice models specifically designed to develop and promote the model hinder the development of systematic clinical applications. This article describes a successful clinical teaching and research practice, The Behavioral Medicine Service, that was conceptualized and developed based on the biopsychosocial model. Systematic planning enabled the service to take advantage of clinical, research, and teaching opportunities and to reduce the constraints imposed on development from within psychiatry and the institution. Advantages of the organizational model include multidisciplinary treatment teams, a systematic method of biopsychosocial assessment and management planning, and continuity of care between several settings: the medical-surgical wards of a general hospital; a behavioral medicine inpatient unit; and outpatient subspecialty clinics for chronic pain, chronic medical illness, anxiety and stress-related disorders, and drug and alcohol abuse. The Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory forms the research arm of the service. Referrals of a diversity of medical and psychiatric problems create a unique learning opportunity for residents. Billing for multimodal team treatment, training residents, establishing clinical research, and managing a plethora of referrals were developmental challenges addressed by the service.

Alcohol expectancies and social anxiety in male and female undergraduates

Recent studies have demonstrated that alcohol expectancies co-vary with some measures of trait anxiety. As part of a college drinking survey with 606 respondents (75.8%) evenly distributed by sex, this study tests further whether social anxiety predicts the expectancies of tension reduction, increased social assertiveness, and social/physical pleasure. In addition, the study examines whether sex, social anxiety, and alcohol consumption interact to predict alcohol expectancies. MANOVA analysis demonstrated that social anxiety significantly predicts the expectancies of tension reduction and increased social assertiveness but not the expectancy of social/physical pleasure. No interaction effects were found among sex, social anxiety, and consumption to predict expectancy levels. However, previous evidence that consumption levels (but not sex) predict expectancies was cross-validated. Findings are discussed within the context of a broader social learning model of alcohol use.

Monologue speech: effects of d-amphetamine, secobarbital and diazepam

Drugs of abuse from different pharmacological classes increase social conversation. Alcohol and d-amphetamine also increase rates of talking in subjects producing speech monologues in an isolated context. This latter finding suggests that the increases observed during dyadic social conversation may represent general increases in talking and not specific effects on social interaction. The present study was conducted to assess whether other abused drugs also increase monologue speaking. The acute effects of secobarbital (0, 50, 150, 250 mg), d-amphetamine (0, 25 mg) (Experiment 1), and diazepam (0, 10, 20, 40 mg) (Experiment 2) were investigated in healthy, adult volunteers. Secobarbital and d-amphetamine both increased the total amount of speech emitted, while diazepam generally had no effect or decreased talking. Experiment 3 was conducted to further compare the effects of secobarbital (0, 50, 150, 250 mg) and diazepam (0, 5, 15, 25 mg) using a within-subject, crossover design. Secobarbital increased talking in three of the four subjects studied, while diazepam, again, had no effect or decreased talking. In contrast to the differences noted with talking, secobarbital and diazepam both decreased response rates in a nonverbal performance task (i.e., circular-lights procedure); they also produced many similar effects on various subject-rated measures of drug effect. Thus, the differences in the effects of these two compounds on talking are not the result of a general difference in their overall profile of behavioral effects. In summary, the results obtained with secobarbital and d-amphetamine further demonstrate that an explicitly social context is not a necessary condition to observe drug-produced increases in speech quantity. The failure of diazepam to reliably increase talking in the present study illustrates the existence of some pharmacological specificity in the effect of drugs on human speech, and suggests another way in which the behavioral effects of the barbiturates and benzodiazepines may differ.

Effects of d-amphetamine on choice of social versus monetary reinforcement: a discrete-trial test

Two mutually exclusive options were concurrently available to eight volunteers during 60-min experimental sessions. Subjects chose every three minutes between conversing with another same-sex volunteer and providing speech monologues for monetary reinforcement. d-Amphetamine (12.5 and 25 mg/70 kg) significantly increased choice of social over monetary reinforcement. Drug-produced increases in choice of the social option were associated with increases in total seconds of speech and the rate of social conversation. d-Amphetamine also increased subject ratings of effects indicative of greater sociability such as friendliness, elation and energetic. These results suggest that d-amphetamine can increase the relative reinforcing effects of social interaction.

Effect of d-amphetamine, secobarbital, and marijuana on choice behavior: social versus nonsocial options

The effects of oral d-amphetamine and secobarbital and smoked marijuana on human social conversation and preference for socializing were studied in three separate experiments. During experimental sessions, active drug or placebo was administered using an acute or divided dosing procedure. Subjects who received drug then engaged in a discrete-trial choice procedure in which they made a series of mutually exclusive choices between a social (talking with their nondrugged partner) and nonsocial (sitting quietly alone) option. Lapel microphones and voice operated relays measured seconds of speech. Subjects engaged in greater amounts of conversation and chose the social option more frequently following acute dosing of d-amphetamine and secobarbital compared with placebo. Acute administration of marijuana did not significantly affect social speech or choice behavior, producing slight decreases in both measures. Acute dosing of all drugs significantly increased subjective drug effect or drug high; however, only secobarbital affected the circular lights task, producing significant performance decrements. The shifts in preference toward the social option observed with d-amphetamine and secobarbital suggest that these drugs increased the reinforcing effects of socializing relative to sitting alone. This may be one mechanism by which psychoactive drugs facilitate social conversation.

Time allocation in a concurrent schedule of social interaction and monetary reinforcement: effects of d-amphetamine

Two mutually exclusive options (socializing versus monetary reinforcement) were concurrently available to two normal volunteers during 60-min experimental sessions under controlled laboratory conditions. The amount of money available in the monetary option was adjusted for individual subjects during baseline conditions until subjects divided their time approximately evenly between a social option in which they could converse with another same-sex volunteer or a monetary option in which money was earned for sitting quietly in a private room. In both subjects studied, d-amphetamine (5-25 mg) increased the percent of time allocated to the social option and total seconds of speech. This effect occurred even though increases in the time allocated to the social option necessarily resulted in a forfeiture of monetary reinforcement. The present results provide the first empirical evidence, to our knowledge, that d-amphetamine can increase the relative reinforcing effects of social interaction.