Aromatic Bromination Abolishes Deficits in Visuospatial Learning Induced by MDMA (“Ecstasy”) in Rats While Preserving the Ability to Increase LTP in the Prefrontal Cortex
International Journal of Molecular Sciences February 13, 2023 Patricio Sáez‐briones, Boris Palma, Héctor Burgos et al. 1 citation
In rats, MDMA (ecstasy) impairs both short-term and long-term visuospatial memory while increasing long-term potentiation (LTP) in the prefrontal cortex. Its brominated analog, 2Br-4,5-MDMA, preserves long-term visuospatial memory and slightly accelerates short-term memory compared to controls, yet also increases LTP similarly to MDMA. These findings suggest that aromatic bromination of the MDMA molecule, which eliminates typical entactogenic-like effects, also modifies effects on higher cognitive functions like visuospatial learning. The cognitive changes do not appear linked to the increase in prefrontal cortex LTP.