Chronic MDMA (ecstasy) use is linked to long-term serotonin depletion and memory deficits. Nineteen male abstinent MDMA users, 19 male abstinent cannabis users, and 19 male drug-naive controls took a German version of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test. MDMA users showed widespread verbal memory deficits—in learning, consolidation, recall, and recognition—compared to both cannabis users and controls, while cannabis users performed similarly to controls. MDMA users also had worse recall consistency and strong retroactive interference, measures tied to frontal lobe function. Memory performance correlated with the amount of MDMA taken. The findings suggest MDMA-related memory deficits involve frontal cortex dysfunction, not just temporal or hippocampal damage.
Recreational users of MDMA show verbal learning and recall deficits that are linked to reduced glucose metabolism in the prefrontal and parietal cortex, and word recognition difficulties are additionally associated with reduced metabolism in the mediotemporal region. These findings indicate that memory problems in MDMA users result from combined dysfunction across frontal, parietal, and mediotemporal brain areas.
Cannabis-dependent men show blunted neural and behavioral responses to social reward, specifically when receiving touch from a woman compared to a man. In a study of 23 abstinent cannabis-dependent men and 24 matched non-using controls, dependent users reported less pleasure and showed reduced striatal brain activation during female (versus male) touch, with stronger alterations linked to greater lifetime cannabis exposure. Neural processing of pleasant touch itself remained intact. The findings suggest that cannabis dependence produces lasting neuroadaptations in reward processing similar to other drugs of abuse, but deficits depend on social context.