A single 75 mg dose of MDMA improved psychomotor performance, including movement speed and tracking in both single and divided attention tasks, but impaired the ability to predict object movement under divided attention, which may indicate impairment of driving-relevant skills. No effect was found on visual search, planning, or semantic memory retrieval. Alcohol 0.5 g/kg was also tested but its effects are not described here. The findings suggest MDMA can both enhance and impair specific cognitive and motor functions relevant to driving.
An assay was developed to measure the enantiomers of the designer drugs MDA, MDMA, and MDEA in small plasma volumes (0.2 mL or less). After extraction and derivatization, the enantiomers were separated by gas chromatography and detected by mass spectrometry within 17 minutes. The method was linear for MDA at 1–50 μg/L and for MDMA and MDEA at 5–250 μg/L per enantiomer, with extraction yields of 82.1%–95.3%. Applied to samples from a controlled study after a single 75 mg dose of racemic MDMA, the assay showed that R-(−)-MDMA concentrations significantly exceeded those of S-(+)-MDMA, with ratios always above 1.0 and increasing over time. S-(+)-MDA concentrations exceeded those of R-(−)-MDA, with ratios also increasing but remaining below 1.0.