PMID- 9952062
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 19990413
LR  - 20191210
IS  - 0033-3158 (Print)
IS  - 0033-3158 (Linking)
VI  - 141
IP  - 1
DP  - 1999 Jan
TI  - Memory deficits associated with recreational use of "ecstasy" (MDMA).
PG  - 30-6
AB  - Evidence from both animal, and human, studies suggests that repeated 
      administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA: "ecstasy") produces 
      lasting decreases in serotonergic activity. Serotonin is believed to play a 
      modulatory role in a variety of psychological processes, including learning and 
      memory. There are recent reports that polydrug users, who have used ecstasy 
      recreationally, exhibit selective impairments in memory. However, these studies 
      did not compare ecstasy users with polydrug users who had not taken ecstasy, 
      leaving open the possibility that the memory deficits may be associated with a 
      history of use of other illicit drugs. The present study used the Rivermead 
      Behavioural Memory test to investigate immediate and delayed recall in: 25 
      polydrug-users who had taken more than 20 tablets of ecstasy (MDMA group), 22 
      participants (polydrug controls) who had never taken ecstasy, but, otherwise has 
      personal characteristics (e.g. age, gender, education, height, weight), and 
      illicit drug use histories, that were generally not significantly different from 
      those of the MDMA group, and 19 participants who had not used illicit drugs but 
      who also had similar personal characteristics (non-drug controls). Participants 
      in the MDMA group recalled significantly fewer ideas (approximately 75% of the 
      number of ideas recalled by participants in either of the other two groups), in 
      both immediate and delayed recall conditions. The two illicit drug-using groups 
      did differ in their estimated IQ scores and their duration of use of LSD, but 
      only the latter proved to be a statistically significant covariate, and the 
      difference in recall performance between the MDMA and polydrug controls groups 
      remained statistically significant when this variable was treated as a covariate. 
      The present findings provide the first evidence that deficits in memory 
      performance in recreational ecstasy users are primarily associated with past 
      exposure to ecstasy, rather than with the other legal and illicit drugs consumed 
      by these individuals, and are consistent with reduced serotonergic modulation of 
      mnemonic function as a result of long-term neurotoxic effects of MDMA in humans.
FAU - Morgan, M J
AU  - Morgan MJ
AD  - Centre for Substance Abuse Research, Department of Psychology, University of 
      Wales Swansea, UK. m.j.morgan@swansea.ac.uk
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - Germany
TA  - Psychopharmacology (Berl)
JT  - Psychopharmacology
JID - 7608025
RN  - 0 (Hallucinogens)
RN  - 0 (Illicit Drugs)
RN  - 333DO1RDJY (Serotonin)
RN  - KE1SEN21RM (N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Female
MH  - Hallucinogens/*adverse effects
MH  - Humans
MH  - Illicit Drugs/*adverse effects
MH  - Male
MH  - Memory Disorders/*chemically induced
MH  - Memory, Short-Term/drug effects
MH  - Mental Recall/*drug effects
MH  - N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine/*adverse effects
MH  - Serotonin/metabolism
EDAT- 1999/02/10 00:00
MHDA- 1999/02/10 00:01
CRDT- 1999/02/10 00:00
PHST- 1999/02/10 00:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 1999/02/10 00:01 [medline]
PHST- 1999/02/10 00:00 [entrez]
AID - 10.1007/s002130050803 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1999 Jan;141(1):30-6. doi: 10.1007/s002130050803.