MDMA makes individuals rate happy faces as kinder, more generous, or happier.

“MDMA seems to cause these increases in dopamine and all the accompanying effects I just described but by also causing big increases in serotonin it activates neural networks that are associated with feeling more socially connected in fact we'll talk about data in a little bit where people have had their brains imaged while under the influence of MDMA and it's very clear that people who have taken MDMA look at faces that ordinarily they would rate as fearful and rate them as less fearful they see faces that are smiling and they rate those smiling happy faces as more positive than they would off the drug the big increases in serotonin create what we call a pro-social effect and that combined with the dopaminergic increase in mood and the stimulation effect creates this thing that we call an empathogen where and this is very important the empathy isn't just for other people it's also for oneself and one's own experiences happening in the moment as well as empathy for experiences from the past which so you can imagine could be very beneficial for the treatment of PTSD”

“when people are on MDMA their response to threatening faces or other threatening stimuli is reduced and it's reduced in a very specific way which is reductions in activity of the amygdala”

“MDMA has a bi-directional effect on our perception of others emotions making people more likely to rate something as positive if it's initially positive or even a little bit positive and less likely to rate a threatening face as more threatening”

“when people are under the influence of MDMA and you show them a face that is grimacing or would otherwise be rated as quite threatening they tend to rate it as less threatening”