Popular Rave Drug "Ecstasy" Impairs Memory, Apparently Related to Brain Damage
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Heavy use of the drug Ecstasy, or MDMA, can lead to persistent problems in remembering what is seen
and heard, according to a study that appeared in the December issue of Neurology. According to
researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Bayview Medical Center, the memory impairment increases
with the amount of drug taken and lasts at least two weeks after stopping use. These memory problems
appear to be related to the damage Ecstasy does to particular brain cells that use the chemical serotonin
for communication.
These findings follow closely on a study published in the October 31 issue of The Lancet by some of the
same scientists showing that frequent Ecstasy use damages the brain's ability to use serotonin, and that
this brain change lasts at least for three weeks after stopping use.
Short for methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA is an amphetamine derivative long known to be
neurotoxic in animals. In recent years use of the drug has been on the rise, in part because of the
popularity of large, organized, all-night social gatherings known as "raves." Many young adults who use
the drug take doses similar to those that cause brain damage in animals.
"These studies sound an alarm to young people and their parents about the serious dangers of this party
drug," says Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National
Institutes of Health, which funded the research. "Not only does Ecstasy cause problems while someone is
using the drug, but it damages the brain in ways that can interfere with normal learning and memory that
continue weeks after one stops taking it."
The Johns Hopkins researchers compared 24 MDMA users with 24 control subjects. After being matched
for age, gender, education, and verbal intelligence, participants were given several standardized tests for
memory. The results showed that the "heavy" users individuals who used at least 400 milligrams
of MDMA per month had greater impairment in verbal memory, which is the ability to
remember information that is heard. They also had delayed visual memory, difficulty in recalling viewed
material. These difficulties increased with the amount of MDMA used. Women, however, were less
susceptible than men to MDMA dose-related decreases in memory.
At the same time, the researchers indirectly assessed brain serotonin function through looking at one of its
metabolites (5-HIAA) in spinal fluid. Notes study author Karen I. Bolla, Ph.D., "We found that the more
MDMA a person reported using, the lower level of 5-HIAA. In addition, people with the lowest levels of
5-HIAA showed the most trouble with visual memory tests. This suggests that Ecstasy has a dose-related
effect on serotonin activity which, in turn, affects memory in humans."
MDMA use has been reported most frequently among young adults and adolescents at clubs, raves, and
rock concerts in Atlanta, Miami, St. Louis, Seattle, and areas of Texas. In 1996, NIDA and the University
of Michigan Institute for Social Research began collecting data on MDMA use among 8th, 10th and 12th
graders. Rates of use remained relatively stable from 1996 to 1997. In 1997, 6.9 percent of 8th graders
had used MDMA at least once in their lives.
NIDA supports more than 85 percent of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and
addiction.
The Institute also carries out a large variety of programs to ensure the rapid dissemination of research
information and its implementation in policy and practice. Fact sheets on health effects of drugs of abuse
and other topics can be ordered free of charge in English and Spanish, by calling NIDA, Infofax at
1-888-NIH-NIDA (-644-6432) or 1-888-TTY-NIDA (-889-6432) for the deaf. These fact sheets and
further information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at
http://www.nida.nih.gov.
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