MDMA for alcohol dependence, Music and sleep, Interoceptive skills, Parasites and entrepreneurship

Claudia Hammond finds out how MDMA assisted psychotherapy could help treat people with alcohol dependence. Trials are in their early stages but initial results are promising. Could this in the future be a new way to treat an addiction which ordinarily can have high relapse rates? Clinical psychologist, Laurie Higbe, explains how she and co therapist, Dr Ben Sessa, conduct the therapy and why MDMA might work at helping tackle the causes of alcohol addiction. Also, why city traders who can detect their own heartbeat may have better instincts when they have to make quick decisions on what's happening in the financial markets. Professor Sarah Garfinkel from the University of Sussex explains why the heart can be a powerful source of information guiding our behaviour without us being consciously aware of it. And Stephanie Johnson from the University of Colorado discusses her research exploring the relationship between risk taking and entrepreneurial behaviour and the toxoplasma gondii parasite.