Ecstasy Use May Make Brain Less Efficient

slimvictor

slimvictor

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Findings suggest changes could be permanent, researcher says


THURSDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Use of the illegal drug ecstasy is associated with long-term changes in brain function, a new study finds.

U.S. researchers used functional MRI to compare the brain's response to visual stimulation in volunteers aged 18 to 35 who had used ecstasy, though not within two weeks of the study, and those who had never used the drug.


Ecstasy users with the highest lifetime exposure to the drug showed increased activation in three areas of the brain associated with visual processing. This suggests that ecstasy use is associated with the loss of serotonin signaling, resulting in increased activation, or hyper-excitability, of the brain, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers said.

Hyper-excitability indicates a loss in brain efficiency, which means it takes more brainpower to process information or perform a task.

cont at
http://health.usnews.com/health-new.../12/ecstasy-use-may-make-brain-less-efficient
 
I have seen that study, and it seems the authors downplay an important finding that muddies their conclusion. They found no statistically significant difference between the MDMA exposed group as a whole and the control group. There was a noticeable difference between those with heavier MDMA exposure compared to those with lower MDMA exposure and the control group though. Also, cortical hyperexcitability was increased in subjects with greater methamphetamine exposer.

This is not to say MDMA cannot cause damage, but rather the damage is dose and duration dependent, and compounded by poly substance abuse. It's likely the true extent of MDMA brain damage in humans will never be fully known because of the ethical barrier to giving toxic doses of MDMA to healthy, non drug using subjects.

This is a good reminder to utilize harm reduction techniques with MDMA though. Over use can be harmful.
 
^word.

i mean its pretty obvious, you thizz often and longterm, youre gonna be pretty damn stupid. is this news to people?
 
I have taken MDMA four times in my life, with about 3-5 years in-between each time.
I never noticed any ill effects.
However, the beneficial effects on my psychology and my soul were immediately apparent, very strong, and long-lasting.
If I lost any cognitive capacity - and I doubt that I did - it was very well worth it to me.
(And I say this as a professional academic.)
 
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Yeah, MDMA does change something about personality for many people it seems, what exactly the change is I do not know, but overall I am happy that I went through the experience as I feel I learned a great deal from it.
 
slimvictor said:
I have taken MDMA four times in my life, with about 3-5 years in-between.
I never noticed any ill effects.
However, the beneficial effects on my psychology and my soul were immediately apparent, very strong, and long-lasting.
If I lost any cognitive capacity - and I doubt that I did - it was very well worth it to me.
(And I say this as a professional academic.)
Click to expand...

Totally well said.
I wish that the article being published was something you wrote, anything, it could be totally random, but anything.. rather than this usual slander type stuff.
 
I've taken MDMA hundreds of times, stupidly high doses and stupidly long binges..

But yeah.. it can be pretty damaging when abuse (no shit sherlock ;))
 
IMO any drug can heal you or hurt you. It all depends on how you use it and how often. When i got into X was about the same time i got into tweak and i did them both pretty hard. So ya im pretty sure i suffered some damage. Which is why kids shouldnt do drugs lol. But when used in moderation and not in holy shit doses they can help
 
Wonder if any of the damage was due to the fact they only had to wait 2 weeks after taking MDMA, if they done 1-3 months, think it could have been any different?

Oh well, I love MDMA so I'll take my chances...
 
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