Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2017
Susan Schenk, Dane Aronsen
As is the case with other drugs of abuse, a proportion of ecstasy users develop symptoms consistent with a substance use disorder (SUD). In this paper, we propose that the pharmacology of MDMA, the primary psychoactive component of ecstasy tablets, changes markedly with repeated exposure and that neuroadaptations in dopamine and serotonin brain systems underlie the shift from MDMA use to MDMA...
European Journal of Neuroscience
January 2017
Felix Betzler, Leonard Viohl, Nina Romanczuk-Seiferth
Different cognitive impairments have been reported as a result of long-term MDMA/ecstasy use. Increased impulsivity and altered decision-making have been shown to be associated with the development and maintenance of addictive disorders pointing toward the necessity to understand a potential impairment of decision-making due to MDMA use. Thus, assessing the long-term effects of MDMA is crucial...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences
2017
Shawn. M. Aarde, Michael A. Taffe
Animal models of drug self-administration are currently the gold standard for making predictions regarding the relative likelihood that a recreational drug substance will lead to continued use and addiction. Such models have been found to have high predictive accuracy and discriminative validity for a number of drug classes including ethanol, nicotine, opioids, and psychostimulants such as...
Drug Science, Policy and Law
2017
Alan K. Davis, Harold Rosenberg
22 citations
Both recreational and problematic MDMA/ecstasy users could benefit from employing harm reduction interventions intended to preserve health and prevent negative consequences. To evaluate whether use of such interventions varied by country of residence and frequency of ecstasy use, we used web-based surveys to assess how often 104 lower-frequency and higher-frequency American ecstasy users and 80...
Journal of Behavioral and Brain Science
2017
David M. Compton, Kerri L. Dietrich, Peniel Esquivel et al.
2 citations
A drug of abuse, Foxy or Methoxy Foxy gained popularity among recreational users as an alternative to MDMA (Ecstasy). Considerable research into the consequences of MDMA use is available, yet much remains unknown about the neurobiological consequences of Foxy use. In addition, research into the long-term neuropsychological repercussions associated with these two compounds remains incomplete....