Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2000
George A. Ricaurte, Jie Yuan, Una D. Mccann
291 citations
MDMA, or 'Ecstasy', is a potent and selective neurotoxin for brain serotonin neurons in animals, as shown by neurochemical, neuroanatomical, and functional measures. New data indicate that MDMA reduces levels of the type 2 vesicular monoamine transporter, further supporting its serotonin neurotoxic potential. Using interspecies scaling, the authors demonstrate that dosages of MDMA known to be neurotoxic in animals fall squarely within the range used by recreational human users, countering the argument that animal dosages are too high to be relevant.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2000
Una D. Mccann, Victoria Eligulashvili, George A. Ricaurte
192 citations
MDMA (Ecstasy) is a brain serotonergic neurotoxin in animals, including nonhuman primates. Recreational doses overlap with those causing serotonin neurotoxicity in animals. Human MDMA users show selective decreases in cerebrospinal fluid 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and brain serotonin transporters, similar to neurotoxicity seen in nonhuman primates. Functional abnormalities possibly related to serotonin injury include cognitive deficits, altered sleep architecture, altered neuroendocrine function, altered behavioral responses to serotonin-selective drugs, and increased impulsivity. Further animal, longitudinal, and epidemiological studies are needed to confirm these findings and assess whether users face increased risk of neuropsychiatric illness with age.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2000
A. C. Parrott
153 citations
Repeated use of MDMA (Ecstasy) can damage serotonin-producing neurons in laboratory animals, and a similar pattern may occur in humans. A review of drug-free recreational Ecstasy users found consistent impairments in three cognitive areas: memory for new information, higher-level executive processing, and increased impulsivity. Basic cognitive functions like reaction time, vigilance, and Stroop performance remained intact. Some users reported memory and concentration problems they attributed to MDMA. Methodological issues, such as non-random assignment and other drug use, complicate the findings. The pattern of deficits matches animal data showing serotonergic damage in the frontal cortex and hippocampus, and aligns with a hypothetical construct of reduced cortical inhibition.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2004
A. C. Parrott
152 citations
MDMA, also known as ecstasy, is an amphetamine derivative widely used recreationally, especially at dances and raves. Animal research shows that hot temperatures and crowding amplify MDMA's acute effects, increase social interaction and drug self-administration, and impair thermal control, causing overheating. In humans, acute medical dangers involve hyperthermia-related reactions that typically occur in hot, crowded environments. MDMA is a serotonergic neurotoxin in animals, and heat and crowding worsen axon loss; if this applies to humans, club conditions may raise the risk of adverse neuropsychological effects. Self-reported dancing or exercise while on MDMA is linked to more subsequent psychobiological problems.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2004
145 citations
During Zen meditation, people who have never meditated before show distinct brain and body changes depending on their baseline anxiety level. In 22 healthy adults, meditation increased slow alpha brain-wave coherence between the frontal lobes (linked to focused internal attention) and shifted autonomic activity toward relaxation (higher parasympathetic and lower sympathetic heart-rate-variability measures). However, individuals with lower trait anxiety experienced a stronger increase in frontal brain coherence, indicating deeper internalized attention, while those with higher trait anxiety showed a stronger shift toward relaxation. The findings suggest that a person's typical anxiety level shapes which aspect of meditation—focused attention or relaxation—predominates.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2000
H. Valerie Curran
143 citations
MDMA is neurotoxic in animals, and evidence for human neurotoxicity comes from three indirect research areas: neurobiological and neuroendocrine studies, psychological and somatic symptoms in users, and psychiatric case reports. The strength of causative links between observed effects, MDMA use, and human neurotoxicity varies across these study types. Methodological problems in human MDMA research complicate interpretation.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2004
Jordi Riba, P. Anderer, F Jané et al.
131 citations
Ayahuasca, a South American psychotropic plant tea, combines monoamine oxidase-inhibiting β-carboline alkaloids with the psychedelic agent DMT. In a clinical study with 18 volunteers, freeze-dried ayahuasca (0.85 mg DMT/kg body weight) produced dose-dependent changes in spontaneous brain electrical activity, measured via electroencephalography and low-resolution electromagnetic tomography (LORETA). Compared to placebo, ayahuasca decreased power density in alpha-2, delta, theta, and beta-1 frequency bands 60 and 90 minutes after dosing. Power decreases in delta, alpha-2, and beta-1 bands occurred predominantly over the temporo-parieto-occipital junction, while theta power reduced in temporomedial and frontomedial regions. Subjective effects increased across all six scales of the Hallucinogen Rating Scale. The findings suggest involvement of unimodal and heteromodal association cortex and limbic structures in ayahuasca's psychological effects.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2000
Fabrizio Schifano
83 citations
An overview of ecstasy (MDMA) abuse in Italy and other European countries describes clinical cases and a larger report from a public addiction treatment unit. Polydrug users who also consume MDMA are at high risk for psychopathological consequences including depression, psychotic disorders, cognitive disturbances, bulimic episodes, impulse control disorders, panic disorders, and social phobia, especially with longer-term or larger-dose use. Occasional experimenters show a novelty-seeking personality dimension, while heavier users exhibit low harm avoidance scores. Methodological challenges arise because MDMA is rarely the only drug of abuse.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2008
A. C. Parrott, Jing Zhan Lock, A.c. Conner et al.
77 citations
Recreational Ecstasy users showed an 800% increase in cortisol and a 75% increase in testosterone when dancing at a club on MDMA, but no such changes occurred when they danced at the same club without the drug. Body temperature did not change significantly, though a borderline trend for higher values appeared after MDMA. Feelings of happiness and excitement increased under MDMA but were not significantly greater than during abstinence. The findings suggest that neurohormonal release is a key part of the acute MDMA experience and support a bioenergetic stress model of recreational use.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2009
Susan Schenk
71 citations
Use of MDMA has risen globally and shifted from a dance-club subculture to broader, more frequent, high-dose consumption, with some users meeting criteria for abuse or dependence. Because studying human users involves confounding factors, animal models—especially self-administration—are used for their predictive validity. Most studies in primates and rodents show only low daily self-administration of MDMA, though some subjects self-administer high levels, possibly depending on test sessions, prior training, or other variables. MDMA is generally a weaker reinforcer than other drugs of abuse. The review suggests that repeated MDMA exposure reduces serotonin release, and the resulting serotonin deficit enhances dopamine responses, which may drive the development and maintenance of MDMA self-administration.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2002
Euphrosyne Gouzoulis‐mayfrank, B. Thelen, Stefanie Maier et al.
69 citations
Psilocybin, a serotonergic hallucinogen, and the ecstasy-like drug MDE both slowed reaction times in a spatial attention task, while methamphetamine did not. Psilocybin caused especially slow responses to invalid cues at short intervals and a failure to inhibit responses to valid cues at long intervals for right visual field targets. These patterns resemble bilateral attention disengagement and a lateralized impairment of inhibition of return seen in acute psychotic states. The study used a double-blind design with 8 healthy volunteers per group. Limitations include small sample size, and the authors call for larger studies with other hallucinogens to explore links between visuospatial attention dysfunction and psychosis.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2009
A.c. Parrott
67 citations
MDMA (ecstasy) acutely raises cortisol, a stress hormone that regulates energy metabolism. In sedentary lab participants, cortisol increases about 150% after MDMA; in dancing clubbers, levels rise around 800% due to the drug plus physical exertion and social stimulation. Regular users show altered baseline cortisol and blunted stress responses, indicating compromised hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function. Cortisol affects memory, cognition, sleep, impulsivity, depression, and neuronal health—functions often impaired in ecstasy users. The hormone likely amplifies MDMA's acute stimulating effects and contributes to long-term functional and structural brain changes in chronic users.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2009
Philip N. Murphy, Michelle Wareing, John E. Fisk et al.
49 citations
A review of 33 studies on abstinent ecstasy (MDMA) users found that deficits in executive functioning are most consistently observed for updating verbal information and for visuospatial memory tasks that demand more than simple storage and retrieval, suggesting the overall level of executive demand is important. Evidence for impairment in shifting between mental sets was weak, while findings for inhibition and long-term memory access were unclear. All but one study used a cross-sectional design, a noted limitation, but researchers generally controlled for confounds such as other drug use through group designs and statistics. The review recommends future studies specify which executive processes tasks measure and consider task difficulty.
Neuropsychobiology
October 20, 2010
Andrew Scholey, Lauren Owen, J. R. Gates et al.
46 citations
Among 49 undergraduate volunteers, self-reported Ecstasy use closely matched MDMA traces found in hair samples. Both self-report and hair analysis predicted lower happiness and higher stress ratings. Self-reported use, but not hair analysis, was also linked to lower tension. The findings suggest the Internet can effectively complement traditional laboratory studies on recreational drug effects.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2000
John Turner, A. C. Parrott
27 citations
Experts from diverse fields—animal neuroscience, human cognitive testing, police pathology, psychotherapy, and psychiatry—debated whether MDMA is a human neurotoxin. Some highlighted methodological weaknesses in human studies, such as uncertain tablet contents, reliance on self-reports, and confounding factors like heat, exertion, poor diet, and other drugs, which could mimic neural damage. The absence of gliosis in animal models suggested alternative interpretations for observed neural changes. Others noted no neural or behavioral change after a single dose and pointed to therapeutic benefits in supportive settings. However, novel studies across several European countries confirmed cognitive, behavioral, EEG, and neurological deficits in drug-free Ecstasy users, even after controlling for other drug use. The conclusion: if MDMA neurotoxicity is a myth, it is one with a heavy serotonergic component.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 1987
H Depoortere
14 citations
Neocortical rhythmic slow activity (RSA) during wakefulness and paradoxical sleep in rats occurs in two types: high-frequency (7-9 Hz) RSA1, which is atropine-resistant and abolished by urethane, clonidine, and alcuronium, and low-frequency (4-6 Hz) RSA2, which is atropine-sensitive and activated by cholinergic agents and drugs like tabernanthine, ibogaine, and vincamine. During paradoxical sleep, low-frequency RSAT correlates with tonic components, while high-frequency RSAp correlates with phasic phenomena such as rapid eye movements. Imipramine reduces RSAp, and alcuronium suppresses RSA1 during arousal but not RSAp, suggesting distinct central mechanisms. This approach may aid in treating vigilance and memory deficits and analyzing RSA in antidepressant and anxiolytic treatments.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2008
Paolo Fusar‐poli, Stefan Borgwardt
7 citations
Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, first synthesized LSD in 1938 but set it aside. In 1943, he accidentally ingested a small amount and experienced an extremely stimulated imagination. Three days later, on April 19, 1943, he intentionally took 250 micrograms of LSD to verify the effects, then rode his bicycle home—a ride now known as Bicycle Day. LSD was initially hailed as a tool for psychoanalysis and understanding schizophrenia, but in the 1960s figures like Timothy Leary promoted it as a path to spiritual enlightenment.
Neuropsychobiology
January 1, 2004
Nikolas Coupland, Tai-Jui Chen, Terence O'Donnell et al.
1 citation
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Neuropsychobiology
February 5, 2026
Lavanya Seth, Jitendriya Biswal, Surjeet Sahoo et al.
Both electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and intravenous ketamine, given alongside oral antidepressants, significantly reduce severe depression and suicidal thoughts in patients with major depressive disorder. In a trial with 64 adults, depression scores dropped from 27 to 1 with ECT and from 26 to 2 with ketamine by four weeks after treatment; suicidal ideation scores fell from 12.1 to 1.2 with ECT and from 12.6 to 2.0 with ketamine. Ketamine worked faster, while ECT had slightly more lasting effects. Side effects were mild: ECT caused temporary cognitive issues, ketamine caused minor dissociative and urinary symptoms. Ketamine is a promising rapid option for acute suicidal ideation.