Enantio-selective cognitive and brain activation effects of N-ethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine in humans.
M Spitzer, B Franke, H Walter, Jochen Buechler, A P Wunderlich, M Schwab, K A Kovar, L Hermle, Georg Grön
Neuropharmacology August 2001 DOI: 10.1016/s0028-3908(01)00060-0 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized double-blind trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 5 |
| Population | Normal human subjects |
| Key findings | The enantiomers of MDE produced distinct subjective, cognitive, and brain activation effects: (S)-MDE elevated mood and activated right frontal areas, while (R)-MDE increased depression and activated visual and left frontal areas, suggesting the entactogenic effects are likely due to (S)-MDE and neurotoxic effects to (R)-MDE. |
Abstract
In a randomised double-blind trial the subjective, neuropsychological and brain activation effects of the two enantiomers of the MDMA (ecstasy-) like drug N-ethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDE) were studied in five normal subjects using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). (S)-MDE produced elevated mood, impairments in conceptually driven cognition and marked right frontal activation. In contrast, (R)-MDE produced increased depression, enhanced visual feature processing, and activation of visual cortical and left frontal areas. Plasma concentrations were higher for the (R)-enantiomer. The so-called entactogenic effects of MDE are likely to be caused by the (S)-enantiomer, whereas (R)-MDE appears to be responsible for neurotoxic effects.