Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
October 1, 2008
Jerrold S. Meyer, Brian J. Piper, Valerie E. Vancollie
44 citations
Adult animals treated with high doses of MDMA (“ecstasy”) either on a single day or for several consecutive days show numerous behavioral changes as well as persistent reductions in brain serotonin (5‐HT) concentrations and 5‐HT transporter (SERT) protein expression. However, such dosing regimens do not adequately mimic the intermittent use patterns commonly seen in adolescent recreational...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
October 1, 2008
Ronald L Cowan, Deanne M. Roberts, James M. Joers
26 citations
MDMA (3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) has been used by millions of people worldwide as a recreational drug. The terms “MDMA” and “Ecstasy” are often used synonymously, but it is important to note that the purity of Ecstasy sold as MDMA is not certain. MDMA use is of public health concern, not so much because MDMA produces a common or severe dependence syndrome, but rather because rodent and...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
May 1, 2008
Melanie Boly, Christophe Phillips, L. Tshibanda et al.
396 citations
Spontaneous brain activity has recently received increasing interest in the neuroimaging community. However, the value of resting-state studies to a better understanding of brain-behavior relationships has been challenged. That altered states of consciousness are a privileged way to study the relationships between spontaneous brain activity and behavior is proposed, and common resting-state...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
May 1, 2008
Giulio Tononi, Marcello Massimini
135 citations
Consciousness fades during deep nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep early in the night, yet cortical neurons remain active, keep receiving sensory inputs, and can display patterns of synchronous activity. Why then does consciousness fade? According to the integrated information theory of consciousness, what is critical for consciousness is not firing rates, sensory input, or synchronization per...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
March 1, 2008
Giulio Tononi, Christof Koch
615 citations
This review examines recent advances in the study of brain correlates of consciousness. First, we briefly discuss some useful distinctions between consciousness and other brain functions. We then examine what has been learned by studying global changes in the level of consciousness, such as sleep, anesthesia, and seizures. Next we consider some of the most common paradigms used to study the...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
November 1, 2006
Toshitaka Nabeshima, Akihiro Mouri, Rina Murai et al.
In humans, phencyclidine (PCP), a noncompetitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist, reproduces a schizophrenia-like psychosis such as positive/negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. PCP (10 mg/kg/day for 14 days)-treated mice exhibit the enhanced immobility in a forced swimming test as indexes of negative symptoms and impairment of latent learning in a water finding test as indexes of...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
August 1, 2006
Sergio Abanades, Magı́ Farré, Mireia Segura et al.
124 citations
Despite gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) therapeutic uses and the increasing concern about its toxicity, few studies have addressed GHB dose-related effects under controlled administration and their relationship with its pharmacokinetics. The study design was double-blind, randomized, crossover, and controlled. As a pilot pharmacology phase I study, increasing doses of GHB were given. Single oral...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
August 1, 2006
Jerrold S. Meyer, Matthew E. Brevard, Brian J. Piper et al.
40 citations
Abstract: We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the acute effects of a recreational dose (1 mg/kg p.o.) of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on regional brain activity in awake, restrained marmoset monkeys. In a second study, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and postmortem measurements of serotonin transporter (SERT) binding and serotonin (5‐HT)...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
August 1, 2006
Filippo Sean Giorgi, Gloria Lazzeri, Gianfranco Natale et al.
33 citations
Abstract: In the past decades, there was a massive increase in the abuse of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the Western countries. Seizure onset after MDMA is considered to be related mainly to its acute systemic effects (e.g., hyponatremia and hyperthermia). However, additional mechanisms might concur to it as well. Experiments aimed at disclosing the basis for such an acute effect...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
August 1, 2006
Raquel Faria, Ana Magalhães, Pedro Monteiro et al.
29 citations
Abstract: Long‐term behavioral consequences of the neurotoxicity produced by 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) in the adolescent rat are still mostly unknown. Here, adolescent male rats (postnatal day 45 PND [45]) were exposed to 10 mg/kg of MDMA, intraperitoneally, every 2 h for 6 h. Controls were given 0.9% saline in the same protocol. Ten days after exposure, the behavioral effects of...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
August 1, 2006
Ilaria Tamburini, Fabio Blandini, Marco Gesi et al.
24 citations
Abstract: Several studies, carried out in chronic (+/−) 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) abusers, have shown memory loss and cognitive impairment, as well as persistent electroencephalographic changes. This suggests that, at least in humans, forebrain areas, including the limbic system, might be altered by MDMA. Consistently, recent experimental evidences suggest that, in rodents, MDMA,...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
August 1, 2005
Ronald I. Herning
17 citations
The use of marijuana is rampant among 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) users. The co-occurrence of abuse of these two drugs has made it difficult to assess the specific residual effects of MDMA alone. As a first step toward identifying the effects of long-term MDMA use, we studied 8 MDMA abusers, 8 marijuana/MDMA abusers, 15 marijuana abusers (matched in marijuana use without MDMA use),...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
December 2004
Kenneth G Walton, Jeremy Z. Fields, Debra K Levitsky et al.
Unlike younger women, the risk of cardiovascular disease in older women matches or exceeds that of men. Excessive cortisol may play a role in this increased risk. Here we explore the possibility that the Transcendental Meditation (TM) program may reduce the cortisol response to a metabolic stressor as a way of reducing disease risk in older women. Data from 16 women who were long-term...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
October 1, 2004
Michael H. Baumann, Robert D. Clark, Allison G. Budzynski et al.
71 citations
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a popular illicit drug that evokes transporter-mediated release of serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) from nerve cells. Recently, drug users have ingested combinations of the piperazine analogs, 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP) and 1-(m-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine (TFMPP), in an attempt to mimic the subjective effects of MDMA. In the present study, we...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
October 1, 2004
Yossef Itzhak, Karen L. Anderson, Syed F. Ali
31 citations
A bstract : It has been shown that mice deficient in neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) gene are resistant to cocaine‐induced psychomotor sensitization and methamphetamine (METH)‐induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity. The present study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that nNOS has a major role in dopamine (DA)‐ but not serotonin (5‐hydroxytryptamine; 5‐HT)‐mediated effects of...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
November 1, 2003
Nuri B Farber
Antagonists of the NMDA glutamate receptor, including phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, and CGS-19755, produce cognitive and behavioral changes in humans. In rodents these agents produce a myriad of histopathological and neurochemical changes. Several lines of evidence suggest that a large number of these drug-induced effects are dose-dependent manifestations of the same general disinhibition...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
November 1, 2003
Chad J Swanson, Darryle D Schoepp
Evidence suggests that glutamatergic neuronal transmission is involved in psychiatric and neurological disorders and that drugs that target glutamate systems may serve as novel therapeutics in humans. For example, agonists for group II mGlu receptors (mGlu2 and mGlu3) have been shown to be anxiolytic in certain animal models and have shown promise in early human trials. mGlu2/3 receptor...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
June 1, 2002
Roberta Pacifici, Piergiorgio Zuccaro, Magı́ Farré et al.
58 citations
A bstract : Acute administration of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) produces time‐dependent immune dysfunction in humans. Recreational use of MDMA generally includes repeated drug consumption, often in association with other drugs, such as alcohol and cannabis. In the laboratory setting, repeated MDMA administration to healthy MDMA consumers produced a time‐dependent immune...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
June 1, 2002
John K. Fallon, Dhwanil Shah, Andrew T. Kicman et al.
54 citations
A bstract : 3,4‐Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) has been reported to cause hyponatraemia, which appears to result from inappropriate secretion of the antidiuretic hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP). After administration of a low dose of ( R,S )‐MDMA (40 mg) to eight healthy drug‐free male volunteers, concentrations of AVP in plasma increased significantly at 1, 2, and 4 hours. Although no...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
June 1, 2002
B. Gough, Syed Z. Imam, Bruce E. Blough et al.
47 citations
A bstract : Paramethoxyamphetamine (PMA) is a methoxylated phenethylamine derivative that has been used illicitly in Australia since 1994. PMA is also becoming popular at rave parties in the United States. PMA raised concern when a series of fatalities resulted after its use in South Australia, where it was marketed as “ecstasy,” which is the colloquial name for MDMA. In the present study, we...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
June 1, 2002
Jerrold S. Meyer, Syed F. Ali
25 citations
A bstract : The abused drug 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) damages fine serotonergic fibers and nerve terminals in adult organisms; however, developing animals seem less susceptible to this effect. One proposed hypothesis is that neonates are less sensitive to MDMA neurotoxicity because they fail to show drug‐induced hyperthermia. We tested this hypothesis by producing hyperthermia in...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
June 1, 2002
Emmanuel S Onaivi, Syed F. Ali, Sanika S Chirwa et al.
23 citations
The mapping of the human genetic code will enable us to identify potential gene products involved in human addictions and diseases that have hereditary components. Thus, large-scale, parallel gene-expression studies, made possible by advances in microarray technologies, have shown insights into the connection between specific genes, or sets of genes, and human diseases. The compulsive use of...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
April 1, 2001
Roger Penrose
Abstract: Brain action is both physically controlled and beyond computational simulation. Accordingly, there is a strong case for examining brain organization in a way that specifically seeks out structures in the brain that might plausibly support such putative non‐computational action at the ill‐understood borderline between quantum and classical physics. Thus, we must seek out structures in...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
April 1, 2001
Murray Gell‐mann
Abstract: Consciousness is often seen as requiring a special kind of explanation. But the various aspects of self‐awareness can presumably emerge when certain levels of complexity are reached in an organism: it is not necessary to assume additional mechanisms or hidden causes. Looking at the most fundamental level, that of elementary particle physics, three principles appear—the conformability...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
April 1, 2001
S Hameroff
What is consciousness? Conventional approaches see it as an emergent property of complex interactions among individual neurons; however these approaches fail to address enigmatic features of consciousness. Accordingly, some philosophers have contended that "qualia," or an experiential medium from which consciousness is derived, exists as a fundamental component of reality. Whitehead, for...