Memory MDMA effects

Miotto K, Darakjian J, Basch J, et al Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid patterns of use, effects and withdrawal. Am J Addict 10 232-241, 2001 Moncini M, Masini E, Gambassi F, et al Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and alcohol-related syndromes. Alcohol 20 285-291, 2000 Morgan MJ Memory deficits associated with recreational use of ecstasy (MDMA). 

Most studies show no effect of MDMA on learning and memory in rats (see text). 

A study of the behavioral and neurochemical effects of the putative serotonergic neurotoxicant methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or dexfenfluramine in rhesus macaques failed to reveal any effects on shortterm memory, motivation learning, and color and position discrimination (Frederick et al. 1995, 1998). 

When the rats reached young adulthood, they were tested on a series of mazes and memory tasks, in one task, for example, a rat had to learn to swim to a hidden platform by first finding it and later remembering where in the pool the platform was hidden, in this task, a normal rat will remember where the hidden platform is located and use it to climb out of the water. By contrast, the Ecstasy-treated rats took much longer to find the hidden platform. Remember, these rats had not been treated with Ecstasy recently, yet they were substantially inferior to their peers that had never been exposed to MDMA. The effects of Ecstasy use during the first two trimesters of pregnancy have not yet been studied. However, hopefully a pregnant woman would choose not to expose her unborn child to this potential risk. 

The effects of MDMA use on visuospatial memory have been reported in 25 current MDMA users (11 men, 14 women), 10 former users who were abstinent for at least six months (6 men, 4 women), and 18 non-using controls (6 men, 12 women) (86). Both user groups performed more poorly than the controls, even controlled for age, years of education, intelligence, and alcohol and tobacco use. However, when cannabis use was considered, the main effect became non-significant. These results suggest that current and former MDMA users have... 

Prospective memory, which involves remembering future intentions, has been reported to be negatively affected by MDMA in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-way crossover study of a single dose of MDMA 75 mg in 12 recreational MDMA users [42 ]. A single dose of MDMA increased the number of prospective memory failures, which correlated with plasma MDMA concentration. Functional imaging showed that MDMA decreased BOLD activation in the left thalamus, left putamen, left precuneus, and the bilateral inferior parietal lobules. The authors concluded that loss of deactivation in the inferior parietal lobules may account for increments in memory failures observed during MDMA intoxication. The effect of MDMA on memory was small. The detrimental effect of MDMA did not correlate with lifetime use. There was a threefold intersubject variability in plasma concentrations of MDMA, implying that pharmacokinetic variables may play an important part in these effects. The authors speculated that MDMA suppresses brain processes that are normally involved in prospective memory. 

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