Ecstasy and memory

Ecstasy use in this country continues to rise – in fact prevalence rates have more than doubled in the past decade. This could be due to the belief by many that ecstasy is harmless, or at least less harmful than a range of other drugs. It is important to be aware that there are real harms associated with ecstasy and that there are consequences associated with its use.

According to the UK newspaper, The Guardian, a new study was released last week which found that ecstasy can cause lasting damage to the human brain, even if the drug is taken for only a short time. There has long been discussion about the effect of ecstasy on memory, with many long-term users believing this was one area that the drug did have a significant effect.

Research on animals has shown that ecstasy (or more specifically, MDMA) can cause long-lasting damage to neurons involved in processing serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in controlling learning, memory, mood and other functions. There have also been a number of studies involving brain imagery which have indicated that the area of the brain called the hippocampus is particularly affected by the use of MDMA. The hippocampus is believed to be involved in memory.

The study was published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry and conducted by a team at the University of Amsterdam. It recruited 188 volunteers who had never tried the drug, but who indicated that they were likely to do so in the near future. The team tested their performance in a range of exercises, including tests of attention and memory.

Months later, the team went back to their volunteers and tested 58 who had since taken at least one ecstasy tablet. These subjects were matched against a similar number of controls of a similar age and history of drug use. On average, the subjects who had started to use the drug had taken around three pills in total.

Researchers compared the performance of the subjects before and after they first tried the drug and concluded that even low doses of the drug could have lasting effects on the brain. Despite the low dosage, the researchers found a small but statistically significant drop in the volunteers’ ability to remember words. This test involved reciting a list of 15 words and remembering the list 20 minutes later. Their performance in other tests was not hampered. The authors believed that the main factor contributing to this memory loss was a depletion of serotonin.

Once again, this is one more piece of the jigsaw puzzle that is ecstasy. We know so little about the drug and what effect it will have on users in the future – every bit of information is important.

Remember: if you do not want any negative consequences, do not use the drug and, no matter how many times you have used a substance, never be blasé.