RETRACTED: Severe Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity in Primates After a Common Recreational Dose Regimen of MDMA ("Ecstasy")
Science September 27, 2002 George A. Ricaurte, Jie Yuan, George Hatzidimitriou et al. 179 citations
The recreational drug MDMA (ecstasy) is widely believed to selectively damage serotonin neurons in animals and possibly humans. However, nonhuman primates given several sequential doses of MDMA—a pattern similar to human use—developed severe damage to brain dopamine neurons, along with milder serotonin damage. This dopamine loss was linked to increased vulnerability to movement problems. The findings suggest that recreational MDMA users may unknowingly risk developing neuropsychiatric disorders related to dopamine or serotonin deficiency, either as young adults or later in life.