Neuropsychobiology
2000
John Turner, A. C. Parrott
27 citations
UNLABELLED: Every discussant at the Novartis symposium was invited to submit a 250-word abstract, giving their views upon the question: 'Is MDMA a human neurotoxin?'. These abstracts are presented here. They illustrate a wide range of viewpoints and opinions, as might be expected from experts in such diverse fields: animal neuroscience, human cognitive testing, police pathology laboratory,...
Addiction Research & Theory
2000
Charles S. Grob
79 citations
What is Ecstasy? Defined by the New Webster's Dictionary as a state of intense overpowering emotion, a condition of exultation or mental rapture induced by beauty, music, artistic creation or the contemplation of the divine, ecstasy derives etymologically from the ancient Greek ekstasis, which means flight of the soul from the body. The anthropologist, Mircea Eliade, who explored the roots of...
Neuropsychobiology
2000
Una D. Mccann, Victoria Eligulashvili, George A. Ricaurte
192 citations
(±)3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘Ecstasy’) is a brain serotonergic neurotoxin in experimental animals, including nonhuman primates. It is also an increasingly popular recreational drug of abuse, and doses of MDMA that are used recreationally overlap with those that produce serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxicity in animals. Studies in human MDMA users probing for evidence of brain...
Neuropsychobiology
2000
Fabrizio Schifano
83 citations
The present paper attempts to give an updated overview of the magnitude of the phenomenon of ecstasy abuse in Italy and other European countries. It gives an account of some clinical case studies and of a larger-scale report on polydrug (including MDMA) consumers attending our Public Health Addiction Treatment Unit in recent years, with a view to clarifying the characteristics and...
Neuropsychobiology
2000
George A. Ricaurte, Jie Yuan, Una D. Mccann
291 citations
The popular recreational drug, (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘Ecstasy’) is a potent and selective brain serotonin (5-HT) neurotoxin in animals. MDMA-induced 5-HT neurotoxicity can be demonstrated using a variety of neurochemical, neuroanatomical and, more recently, functional measures of 5-HT neurons. Although the neurotoxic effects of MDMA in animals are widely accepted, the...
Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology
2000
A. K. Goodwin, L. E. Baker
44 citations
(+/-)-3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces subjective effects in humans that are similar to, but distinguishable from, those of psychostimulants. Drug discrimination studies in nonhumans have yielded inconsistent results regarding the similarities between MDMA and the psychomotor stimulant d-amphetamine. This study successfully used a 3-choice operant procedure to establish MDMA...
Neuropsychobiology
2000
A. C. Parrott
153 citations
Laboratory animals can develop serotonergic neurotoxicity after repeated doses of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or ‘Ecstasy’. If similar neural damage occurs in humans, this may be evident in cognitive or behavioural impairments. In a review of the behavioural skills shown by drug-free recreational Ecstasy users, three aspects of cognitive performance are often affected: reduced...
Neuropsychobiology
2000
Helen Valerie Curran
143 citations
Evidence from research with a range of animal species, from rodents to non-human primates, has shown that MDMA (±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is neurotoxic. This article explores the evidence that MDMA may be neurotoxic in humans by briefly overviewing three types of research: (1) neurobiological, (2) psychological/somatic and (3) psychiatric. The first type of evidence derives from...
British Journal of Pharmacology
November 1, 1999
Aisling Lavelle, Valerie Honner, James R. Docherty
55 citations
We have investigated the effects of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ‘ecstasy’) on peripheral noradrenergic neurotransmission in the rat. In rat atrial slices pre‐incubated with [ 3 H]‐noradrenaline and in the presence of desipramine (1 μ M ) to prevent effects of MDMA on basal outflow of tritium, MDMA (10 μ M ) significantly inhibited the release of tritium evoked by short trains of six...
Neuroreport
November 1, 1999
Norberto Aguirre, Meritxell Barrionuevo, Marı́a J. Ramı́rez et al.
89 citations
A single administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymetham-phetamine (MDMA, 20 mg/kg, i.p.), induced significant hyperthermia in rats and reduced 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) content and [3H]paroxetine-labeled 5-HT transporter density in the frontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus by 40–60% 1 week later. MDMA treatment also increased glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunoreactivity in the...