MDMA-induced impairment in primates: antagonism by a selective norepinephrine or serotonin, but not by a dopamine/norepinephrine transport inhibitor
Journal of Psychopharmacology January 21, 2008 Christopher D. Verrico, Laurie J. Lynch, Michele A. Fahey et al. 31 citations
Oral MDMA impairs executive function in monkeys for several days, a finding potentially relevant to human MDMA users. The cognitive deficits were reversed by inhibitors of the serotonin transporter (citalopram) and the norepinephrine transporter (desipramine), but not by a dopamine/norepinephrine transporter inhibitor (methylphenidate). MDMA also altered sleep latency. The results implicate the norepinephrine transporter and norepinephrine in MDMA-induced cognitive impairment, suggesting that serotonin deficits alone may not explain the cognitive effects. The study used cynomolgus monkeys trained in a reversal learning task and tested with oral or intramuscular MDMA, with or without transporter inhibitor pretreatments.