How MDMA Works in Your Brain

Massive empathy and Serotonin

**Join Medium here if you aren’t already a member to get access to 1,000s more articles**

Classed somewhere between a stimulant and a hallucinogen, MDMA’s main effect is a massively heightened feeling of empathy. For this reason it’s classified as an empathogen.

MDMA (mandy/molly/ecstasy) is known as a rave drug, but there’s so much more to this substance other than it’s ability to make you dance. The feelings of empathy and emotional connectedness really cannot be rivalled.

However, it’s a controlled and potentially dangerous substance, look here for safety information and best practices.

MDMA brings about it’s characteristic empathy and emotional openness by stimulating a neurotransmitter called serotonin. It does this in a region called the hypothalamus.

Just to forewarn you, we’re going to go into the mechanics of how the substance works in the brain, but in order to understand it, we must first understand a bit about how the brain functions and how its cells communicate.

OK, ready…

The Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus sits between the pituitary gland and the thalamus in the brain. It’s about the size of an almond and its main…