MDMA releases oxytocin in the brain

According to a recent research study in rats, it appears that the popular love-drug ecstasy actually generates a surge of oxytocin to the brain, creating a post-orgasmic feeling of empathy and bonding in users. From the report at New Scientist:

Iain McGregor at the University of Sydney in Australia, and his colleagues studied the effects of ecstasy in rats, which, like people, become more sociable on the drug. "It's very characteristic behaviour. They lie next to each other and chill out," McGregor says.

The team gave the rats the equivalent of two to three ecstasy tablets in an adult human and found that the drug activated oxytocin-containing neurons in an area of their brains called the hypothalamus. When they gave the rats a drug that blocked brain receptors for oxytocin, the increased sociability almost disappeared.

Jinkies! Now that's science. Another element of the empathogenic experience is unraveled. Perhaps this is why people claim that MDMA stimulates "feminine energies", because it does! Favorite quote:

“It’s interesting that guys on ecstasy feel more sensual than sexual,” McGregor says. “It could be that raising oxytocin levels puts them in that sort of post-orgasmic state where they’re actually not very good at performing sexually but they feel really good about the person they’re with.”