Rationale and Objective Preference for sweet taste rewards has been linked to the propensity for drug use in both animals and humans. Here we tested the association between sweet taste liking and sensitivity to amphetamine reward in healthy adults. We hypothesized that sweet likers would report greater euphoria and stimulation following d-amphetamine (20mg) compared to sweet dislikers. Methods Men (n=36) and women (n=34) completed a sweet taste test in which they rated their liking of various concentrations of sucrose and filtered water (0.05, 0.10, 0.21, 0.42, and 0.83M). Participants who preferred the highest concentration were classified as ‘sweet likers’. All others were classified as ‘sweet dislikers’. They then completed four sessions in which they received d-amphetamine (20mg) and placebo in alternating order, providing self-report measures of euphoria and stimulation on the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI) at regular intervals. We conducted linear mixed effects models to examine relationships between sweet liking and drug-induced euphoria and stimulation. Results Sweet likers reported significantly greater amphetamine-induced euphoria than did sweet dislikers among women. By contrast, sweet liking was not associated with amphetamine response in men. No associations with stimulation were observed. Conclusion The association between sweet preference and amphetamine response in women is consistent with animal studies linking sweet taste preference and drug reward, and also fits with observations that individuals who use drugs show a preference for sweet tastes. Whether the sex difference is related to circulating hormones, or other variables, remains to be determined.

In fragile contexts such as Libya where social media penetration is high, foreign social media outlets with political interests can use social media platforms to influence the country's politics. In this study, we assess how social media content varies by the country of the information producer. We create a dataset of Facebook posts about a strongman’s recent attack on Tripoli (N=16,662). We find that more than half of the posts originated from outside Libya and that posts from countries aligned with the Tripoli-based government are biased in that direction and posts from countries aligned with the eastern-based strongman are biased toward his forces. However, many Pages are not slanted: the correlations are instead driven by a smaller number of hyperpartisan Pages. Our findings have implications for our understanding of how social media content -- especially from abroad -- shapes citizen perceptions of the legitimacy of competing political actors.