Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental
May 2017
Catharine Montgomery, John E. Fisk, Carl A Roberts
Cognitive deficits are now well documented in ecstasy (MDMA) users with type and relative demand of task emerging as important factors. The updating component of executive processes appears to be particularly affected. The study reported here used functional near infrared spectroscopy imaging to investigate changes in cortical haemodynamics during memory updating. Twenty ecstasy users and 20...
Psychological Medicine
January 2015
C A Roberts, M A Wetherell, John E. Fisk et al.
Cognitive deficits are well documented in ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; MDMA) users, with such deficits being taken as evidence of dysregulation of the serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) system. More recently neuroimaging has been used to corroborate these deficits. The present study aimed to assess multitasking performance in ecstasy polydrug users, polydrug users and...
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
December 2013
Carl A Roberts, Stephen H Fairclough, Francis P McGlone et al.
Executive functioning deficits are reported in ecstasy users. However research into mental set switching has been equivocal, with behavioral studies suggesting the function is preserved. The current study sought to address the issue of switching deficits in ecstasy users by combining behavioral performance with electrophysiological correlates (electroencephalography; EEG). Twenty ecstasy...
Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental
March 1, 2012
Catharine Montgomery, Alexandra L. Seddon, John E. Fisk et al.
56 citations
BACKGROUND: Research shows that cannabis users exhibit deficits in prospective memory (PM) and executive function, which persist beyond acute intoxication. However, many studies rely on self-reports of memory failures or use laboratory-based measures that may not mimic functional deficits in the real world. The present study aimed to assess real-world memory functioning. METHOD: Twenty...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
September 7, 2011
Philip N. Murphy, Philip G. Erwin, L. Maciver et al.
9 citations
This study aimed to examine the relationship between the consumption of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)) and cannabis, and performance on the random letter generation task which generates dependent variables drawing upon executive inhibition and access to semantic long-term memory (LTM). The participant group was a between-participant independent variable with users of both...
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental
June 1, 2011
John E. Fisk, Catharine Montgomery, Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou
13 citations
OBJECTIVE: Previous research suggests that ecstasy users are impaired in processing visuospatial information. However, for the most part, the deficits observed appear to involve the recall and recognition of complex visual and geometric patterns. The present research sought to determine whether ecstasy use was associated with deficits in serial spatial recall and visuospatial working memory...
Psychopharmacology
June 2011
Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou, John E. Fisk, Catharine Montgomery et al.
Prospective memory (PM) deficits in recreational drug users have been documented in recent years. However, the assessment of PM has largely been restricted to self-reported measures that fail to capture the distinction between event-based and time-based PM. The aim of the present study is to address this limitation. Extending our previous research, we augmented the range laboratory measures of...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
February 2010
L Craig, John E. Fisk, C Montgomery et al.
Previous findings report use of the drug ecstasy (MDMA) to be associated with lower emotional intelligence (EI), and compromised functioning in brain areas responsible for emotion. This study explored the relationship between ecstasy use, EI, mood and parenting styles. Questionnaire measures of drug use, lifestyle, parenting style and EI were obtained, with separate IQ measures for fluid...
Neuropsychobiology
2009
Philip N. Murphy, Michelle Wareing, John E. Fisk et al.
49 citations
<i>Aims:</i> This review examined studies of executive functioning in abstinent ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) users on tasks which had been empirically mapped onto updating, shifting, inhibition and accessing long-term memory executive processes. Studies of some aspects of visuospatial memory performance were also included because of the investment of executive resources in...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
January 2009
John E. Fisk, C Montgomery
Previous research has suggested that the separate aspects of executive functioning are differentially affected by ecstasy use. Although the inhibition process appears to be unaffected by ecstasy use, it is unclear whether this is true of heavy users under conditions of high demand. Tasks loading on the updating process have been shown to be adversely affected by ecstasy use. However, it remains...
Journal of Psychopharmacology
May 2006
Philip N. Murphy, Michelle Wareing, John E. Fisk
This self-report questionnaire study examined ecstasy users' perceptions of the risks associated with their use of ecstasy, their precautions against such risks, and its perceived effects on their lives. Gender differences in these areas were also explored. The sample comprised 328 ecstasy users (139 female, 187 male, one transsexual) with a mean age of 22.5 years (SD = 4.9 years)....
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
2005
Catharine Montgomery, John E. Fisk, Russell Newcombe et al.
22 citations
Previous research has demonstrated working memory and executive deficits in recreational users of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine; Ecstasy). In turn, both of these constructs have been implicated in syllogistic reasoning performance. Twenty-two MDMA users (mean age = 21.36) and 26 MDMA nonuser controls (mean age = 21.31) were tested on syllogisms of varying difficulty and on measures of...
Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental
May 5, 2004
Michelle Wareing, John E. Fisk, Philip N. Murphy et al.
76 citations
Abstract Previous research suggests that MDMA users are impaired in various aspects of cognitive functioning, however, it remains unclear whether they might experience deficits in established measures of verbal working memory functioning. In the present study current and previous MDMA users were compared with non‐users on verbal working memory measures including reading and computation span....