Psychopharmacology
August 2007
Gerry Jager, Maartje M. L. de Win, Hylke K E Vervaeke et al.
Heavy ecstasy use in humans has been associated with cognitive impairments and changes in cognitive brain function supposedly due to damage to the serotonin system. There is concern that even a single dose of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine may be neurotoxic, but very little is known about the consequences of a low dose of ecstasy for cognitive brain function. The objective of the study was...
Biochemical Pharmacology
July 20, 2007
William E Fantegrossi, Kevin S. Murnane, Chad J Reissig
Until very recently, comparatively few scientists were studying hallucinogenic drugs. Nevertheless, selective antagonists are available for relevant serotonergic receptors, the majority of which have now been cloned, allowing for reasonably thorough pharmacological investigation. Animal models sensitive to the behavioral effects of the hallucinogens have been established and exploited....
Psychopharmacology
July 2007
Clara Touriño, Rafaël Maldonado, Olga Valverde
3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and cannabis are widely abused illicit drugs that are frequently consumed in combination. Interactions between these two drugs have been reported in several pharmacological responses observed in animals, such as body temperature, anxiety, cognition, and reward. However, the interaction between MDMA and cannabis in addictive processes such as physical...
Psychopharmacology
July 2007
Sami Ben Hamida, Erin Plute, Sonia Bach et al.
In our previous work, we showed that ethanol (EtOH) potentiates 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-induced hyperlocomotion while protecting against its hyperthermic effects. Whereas the effect on activity were found on all days (although declining over the three first days), the protection against hyperthermia completely disappeared on the second day. The latter effect was previously...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
June 5, 2007
Jean-Claude Béïque, Mays Imad, Ljiljana Mladenovic et al.
Classic hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide are thought to elicit their psychotropic actions via serotonin receptors of the 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A subtype (5-HT(2A)R). One likely site for these effects is the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Previous studies have shown that activation of 5-HT(2A)Rs in this region results in a robust increase in spontaneous glutamatergic synaptic activity,...
Neuropharmacology
June 2007
Efrain E. Garcia, Randy L Smith, Elaine Sanders‐bush
Extensive evidence suggests that 5-HT2 receptors may play a role in mental disorders including schizophrenia. In addition, several studies indicate that G(q)-coupled 5-HT(2A) receptors are likely targets for the initiation of events leading to the hallucinogenic behavior elicited by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), (+/-)1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI), and related drugs....
Addiction
May 1, 2007
Sundeep Singh
52 citations
Salvia divinorum is a non-water-soluble hallucinogen that is becoming increasingly popular among adolescents. Salvia is a highly selective full agonist of primate and cloned human cerebral kappa-opioid receptors, although its psychotomimetic effects are similar to serotonergic agonists and NMDA glutamate antagonists. Salvia has been associated with depersonalization, laughter, feelings of...
Drug and Alcohol Dependence
March 16, 2007
Krista Lisdahl Medina, Paula K Shear
Given ecstasy's (MDMA) potential serotonergic neurotoxicity, it is plausible that regular ecstasy users would have an elevated prevalence of behavioral executive dysfunction or mood symptoms. However, recent studies have found that the relationship between ecstasy use and psychological symptoms was no longer significant after controlling for marijuana use (e.g., Morgan et al., 2002). The goal...
Handbook of Contemporary Neuropharmacology
March 2, 2007
María Isabel Colado, Esther O'Shea, Alfred Richard Green
AbstractThe use of the club drugs 3, 4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”), gamma‐hydroxybutyrate (GHB), flunitrazepam (Rohypnol), ketamine and LSD is a popular practice among young people especially during all‐night dance parties or “raves“ due to their ability to enhance social experiences and/or alter perception. These substances belong to different classes of drugs: MDMA is an...
Neuroscience
February 10, 2007
Evelyn K. Lambe, George K. Aghajanian
35 citations
The fine-tuning of network activity provides a modulating influence on how information is processed and interpreted in the brain. Here, we use brain slices of rat prefrontal cortex to study how recurrent network activity is affected by neuromodulators known to alter normal cortical function. We previously determined that glutamate spillover and stimulation of extrasynaptic N-methyl-d-aspartic...