PMID- 17203011
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070926
LR  - 20150311
IS  - 0893-133X (Print)
IS  - 0893-133X (Linking)
VI  - 32
IP  - 8
DP  - 2007 Aug
TI  - The effect of catecholamine depletion by alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine on measures 
      of cognitive performance and sleep in abstinent MDMA users.
PG  - 1695-706
AB  - (+/-) 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a popular recreational drug of 
      abuse and a brain serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxin in animals. Growing evidence 
      suggests that humans who use MDMA recreationally can also develop 5-HT neurotoxic 
      injury, although functional consequences have been difficult to identify. 
      Twenty-five abstinent MDMA users and 23 non-MDMA using controls were studied to 
      determine whether pharmacologic depletion of brain catecholamines by 
      alpha-methyl-para-tyrosine (AMPT) would differentially effect MDMA users on 
      measures of cognition and sleep, two processes dually modulated by brain 
      serotonergic and catecholaminergic neurons. During a 5-day in-patient study, all 
      subjects underwent formal neuropsychiatric testing, repeated computerized 
      cognitive testing, and all-night sleep studies. At baseline, MDMA users had 
      performance deficits on tasks of verbal and visuospatial working memory and 
      displayed increased behavioral impulsivity on several computerized tasks, 
      reflecting a tendency to perform quickly at the expense of accuracy. Baseline 
      sleep architecture was also altered in abstinent MDMA users compared to controls. 
      AMPT produced differential effects in MDMA users compared to controls on several 
      cognitive and sleep measures. Differences in cognitive performance, impulsivity, 
      and sleep were significantly correlated with MDMA use. These data extend findings 
      from earlier studies demonstrating cognitive deficits, behavioral impulsivity, 
      and sleep alterations in abstinent MDMA users, and suggest that lasting effects 
      of MDMA lead to alterations in the ability to modulate behaviors reciprocally 
      influenced by 5-HT and catecholamines. More research is needed to determine 
      potential relationships between sleep abnormalities, cognitive deficits and 
      impulsive behavior in abstinent MDMA users.
FAU - McCann, Una D
AU  - McCann UD
AD  - Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of 
      Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. umccann@jhmi.edu
FAU - Peterson, Stephen C
AU  - Peterson SC
FAU - Ricaurte, George A
AU  - Ricaurte GA
LA  - eng
GR  - DA01796401/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - DA05938/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - DA16563/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States
GR  - M01RR002719/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/United States
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
DEP - 20070103
PL  - England
TA  - Neuropsychopharmacology
JT  - Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of 
      Neuropsychopharmacology
JID - 8904907
RN  - 0 (Enzyme Inhibitors)
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - 658-48-0 (alpha-Methyltyrosine)
RN  - 9002-62-4 (Prolactin)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Analysis of Variance
MH  - Cognition/*drug effects
MH  - Computer-Assisted Instruction
MH  - Electroencephalography
MH  - Enzyme Inhibitors/*administration & dosage
MH  - Female
MH  - Hallucinogens/*adverse effects
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*adverse effects
MH  - Neuropsychological Tests/statistics & numerical data
MH  - Prolactin/metabolism
MH  - Radioimmunoassay
MH  - Reaction Time/drug effects
MH  - Sleep/*drug effects
MH  - Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/physiopathology/psychology
MH  - alpha-Methyltyrosine/*administration & dosage
EDAT- 2007/01/05 09:00
MHDA- 2007/09/27 09:00
CRDT- 2007/01/05 09:00
PHST- 2007/01/05 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/09/27 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/01/05 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 1301302 [pii]
AID - 10.1038/sj.npp.1301302 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Neuropsychopharmacology. 2007 Aug;32(8):1695-706. doi: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301302. 
      Epub 2007 Jan 3.