PMID- 10867552
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20000829
LR  - 20171101
IS  - 0302-282X (Print)
IS  - 0302-282X (Linking)
VI  - 42
IP  - 1
DP  - 2000
TI  - Human research on MDMA (3,4-methylene- dioxymethamphetamine) neurotoxicity: 
      cognitive and behavioural indices of change.
PG  - 17-24
AB  - Laboratory animals can develop serotonergic neurotoxicity after repeated doses of 
      3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or 'Ecstasy'. If similar neural damage 
      occurs in humans, this may be evident in cognitive or behavioural impairments. In 
      a review of the behavioural skills shown by drug-free recreational Ecstasy users, 
      three aspects of cognitive performance are often affected: reduced memory for new 
      information (Rivermead Behavioral Memory, supraspan word recall), impaired higher 
      executive processing (Wisconsin Card Sort, Tower of London), and heightened 
      impulsivity (Impulsiveness, Venturesomeness and Empathy Questionnaire, Matching 
      Familiar Figures test). Performance on other more basic cognitive functions is 
      generally unimpaired (simple reaction time, choice reaction time, number 
      vigilance, Stroop, trail making). Some Ecstasy users also complain of poor 
      memories and/or concentration difficulties, which they attribute to MDMA use. 
      There are many methodological problems and uncertainties with research in this 
      field: non-random allocation of subjects to drug conditions, the deleterious 
      effects of other psychoactive drugs, and the possibility that these adverse 
      profiles reflect pre-existing personality characteristics in Ecstasy users. 
      However, this particular pattern of cognitive decrements in humans, is consistent 
      with the animal data on those brain areas showing serotonergic damage following 
      MDMA: the frontal cortex (impulsivity and higher cognitive impairments), and 
      hippocampus (memory deficits). Finally, this profile of cognitive deficits is 
      also consistent with a hypothetical integrative construct: namely reduced 
      cortical inhibition.
CI  - Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel
FAU - Parrott, A C
AU  - Parrott AC
AD  - Department of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK. Andyz@uel.ac.uk
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Neuropsychobiology
JT  - Neuropsychobiology
JID - 7512895
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Behavior/*drug effects
MH  - Cognition/*drug effects
MH  - Hallucinogens/*toxicity
MH  - Humans
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*toxicity
MH  - Neurotoxicity Syndromes/*pathology
RF  - 35
EDAT- 2000/06/27 11:00
MHDA- 2000/09/02 11:01
CRDT- 2000/06/27 11:00
PHST- 2000/06/27 11:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2000/09/02 11:01 [medline]
PHST- 2000/06/27 11:00 [entrez]
AID - 26666 [pii]
AID - 10.1159/000026666 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Neuropsychobiology. 2000;42(1):17-24. doi: 10.1159/000026666.