Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) is a popular recreationally used drug among young people in Europe and North America. The recent surge in use of MDMA and increasing concerns about possible toxic effects of the drug have inspired a great deal of research into the mechanisms by which the drug may affect the central nervous system. This paper reviews studies on the neurochemical, beh...

Acute exposure to ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) preferentially increases release of serotonin (5-HT), and a role of 5-HT in many of the behavioral effects of acute exposure to MDMA has been demonstrated. A role of 5-HT in MDMA self-administration in rats has not, however, been adequately determined. Therefore, the present study measured the effect of pharmacological manipulation of ...

OBJECTIVE Recent functional imaging studies have reported evidence of alterations in the serotonergic system induced by 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or "Ecstasy." However, these studies have often been limited by small sample size, lack of tracer selectivity, unreliable assessment of MDMA doses, insufficiently matched comparison groups, or region-of-interest analysis. METHOD Posi...

The present study examined the mechanisms by which 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces long-term neurotoxicity of striatal dopamine neurones in mice and the protective action of the dopamine uptake inhibitor GBR 12909. MDMA (30 mg/kg, i.p.), given three times at 3-h intervals, produced a rapid increase in striatal dopamine release measured by in vivo microdialysis (maximum increas...

A two-lever, food-motivated, operant technique was employed to train the purportedly serotonergically dysfunctional Fawn-Hooded (FH) rat to discriminate 1.5 mg/kg MDMA. Once all 10 male subjects learned the MDMA-vehicle discrimination at criterion performance level, doses different than the training dose were used to generate a dose-response discrimination gradient. The ED50 value of MDMA was s...

The present study examined the effect of N-tert-butyl-alpha-phenylnitrone (PBN) on 3,4-methylenedioxmathamphetamine (MDMA)-induced depletion of serotonin in the CNS. Rats were treated with two concurrent injections of MDMA (20 mg/kg, s.c.), PBN (50-400 mg/kg dissolved in ethanol, 50 mg/ml of 25% ethanol, i.p.), saline or 25% ethanol, alone or in combination, 6 h apart, and sacrificed 5 days lat...

AIMS 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) can affect both neurotransmitter and neurohormonal activity. This review will debate the role of the metabolic activation hormone cortisol for the psychobiological effects of ecstasy/MDMA. METHODS The empirical literature on cortisol release following acute MDMA administration and cortisol functioning in drug-free recreational ecstasy/MDMA users w...

BACKGROUND Ecstasy use is commonly linked with memory deficits in abstinent ecstasy users. Similar impairments are being found during ecstasy intoxication after single doses of ± 3,4 metylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). The concordance of memory impairments during intoxication and abstinence suggests a similar neuropharmacological mechanism underlying acute and chronic memory impairments. The m...

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine, a.k.a. "ecstasy") was first synthesized in 1912 and resynthesized more than once for pharmaceutical reasons before it became a popular recreational drug. Partially based on previously overlooked U.S. government documentation, this article reconstructs the early history of MDMA as a recreational drug in the U.S. from 1960 to 1979. According to the lite...

OBJECTIVE "Ecstasy," or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), causes long-term impairment to the serotonin (5-HT) system in rats, dogs, and nonhuman primates. 5-HT dysfunction has also been observed in human recreational users of the drug, but whether 5-HT dysfunction in humans is caused by MDMA has not been established, since dysfunction may have preceded MDMA exposure. This ambiguity abou...