PMID- 21390504
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20111122
LR  - 20211020
IS  - 1432-2072 (Electronic)
IS  - 0033-3158 (Linking)
VI  - 216
IP  - 4
DP  - 2011 Aug
TI  - Event related potential (ERP) evidence for selective impairment of verbal 
      recollection in abstinent recreational methylenedioxymethamphetamine 
      ("Ecstasy")/polydrug users.
PG  - 545-56
LID - 10.1007/s00213-011-2249-9 [doi]
AB  - OBJECTIVES: Ecstasy is a recreational drug whose active ingredient, 
      3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), acts predominantly on the serotonergic 
      system. Although MDMA is known to be neurotoxic in animals, the long-term effects 
      of recreational Ecstasy use in humans remain controversial but one commonly 
      reported consequence is mild cognitive impairment particularly affecting verbal 
      episodic memory. Although event-related potentials (ERPs) have made significant 
      contributions to our understanding of human memory processes, until now they have 
      not been applied to study the long-term effects of Ecstasy. The aim of this study 
      was to examine the effects of past Ecstasy use on recognition memory for both 
      verbal and non-verbal stimuli using ERPs. METHODS: We compared the ERPs of 15 
      Ecstasy/polydrug users with those of 14 cannabis users and 13 non-illicit drug 
      users as controls. RESULTS: Despite equivalent memory performance, 
      Ecstasy/polydrug users showed an attenuated late positivity over left parietal 
      scalp sites, a component associated with the specific memory process of 
      recollection. CONCLUSIONS: [corrected] This effect was only found in the word 
      recognition task which is consistent with evidence that left hemisphere cognitive 
      functions are disproportionately affected by Ecstasy, probably because the 
      serotonergic system is laterally asymmetrical. Experimentally, decreasing central 
      serotonergic activity through acute tryptophan depletion also selectively impairs 
      recollection, and this too suggests the importance of the serotonergic system. 
      Overall, our results suggest that Ecstasy users, who also use a wide range of 
      other drugs, show a durable abnormality in a specific ERP component thought to be 
      associated with recollection.
FAU - Burgess, Adrian P
AU  - Burgess AP
AD  - School of Life & Health Sciences, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, 
      UK. a.p.burgess@aston.ac.uk
FAU - Venables, Louise
AU  - Venables L
FAU - Jones, Helena
AU  - Jones H
FAU - Edwards, Rhiannon
AU  - Edwards R
FAU - Parrott, Andrew C
AU  - Parrott AC
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20110310
PL  - Germany
TA  - Psychopharmacology (Berl)
JT  - Psychopharmacology
JID - 7608025
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - 333DO1RDJY (Serotonin)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - Case-Control Studies
MH  - Cognition/drug effects
MH  - Evoked Potentials/*drug effects
MH  - Female
MH  - Hallucinogens/*adverse effects
MH  - Humans
MH  - Male
MH  - Memory/*drug effects
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*adverse effects
MH  - Recognition, Psychology/drug effects
MH  - Serotonin/metabolism
MH  - Time Factors
MH  - Young Adult
EDAT- 2011/03/11 06:00
MHDA- 2011/12/13 00:00
CRDT- 2011/03/11 06:00
PHST- 2010/10/12 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2011/02/23 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2011/03/11 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2011/03/11 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2011/12/13 00:00 [medline]
AID - 10.1007/s00213-011-2249-9 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Aug;216(4):545-56. doi: 
      10.1007/s00213-011-2249-9. Epub 2011 Mar 10.