Scientists conducted an experiment in which they administered MDMA to octopuses.

This study was originally published in Current magazine. biologywe looked at how recreation takes place. medicine affect the sociability of animal.

MDMA, also known as ecstasy, is a stimulant that: illegal Although sold in many countries, it is still very popular.

This drug is commonly associated with the rave scene because it gives users a big burst of energy and a feeling of euphoria.

The reason this works is that it binds to transporter proteins in our neurons, which increase the amount of serotonin, which creates a great feeling of euphoria, and scientists looked at how this affected octopuses.

Octopuses are highly intelligent animals, and the study authors observed how their behavior changed when they gave them MDMA.

Gül Doren is a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and co-author of the 2018 paper.

“As humans, we want to know where we come from,” Dehlen says.

“MDMA is a great tool for studying social behavior across multiple species.”

So how did the octopus react to MDMA?

of study Saw California The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, studied two-spotted octopuses, which are not normally a particularly social species, and put two of them together in a tank.

Inside the tank, one octopus was under a mesh pot, allowing the two to touch and interact, but not to hurt each other.

In the case of the sober octopus, the free octopus typically spent most of its time on the opposite side of the aquarium from under the pot, which was what the researchers expected.

However, when the animals were placed in a tank containing dissolved MDMA, there was a noticeable change in their behavior.

In this aquarium, the octopuses could be seen sitting relaxed in the water, moving their arms, and doing somersaults to move through the water.

Interestingly, they also did not avoid the mesh cages containing other octopuses, as they did when they were sober.

Instead, they seemed to approach their partners in the mesh basket much more aggressively, attempting to touch them and hugging the container.

The study suggested that the regions of the human brain associated with social bonds may be the result of another evolutionary coincidence, albeit a happy one.

Doren said: “This reiterates the importance of understanding functionality. [at] molecular level. Focusing on one area of ​​the brain doesn’t tell you everything. ”