NEWS: Ecstacy may cause memory loss

Ecstasy may cause memory loss
09:48 AEST Sun Oct 3 2004


People who swallow the party drug ecstasy may forget more than just their inhibitions, according to new research.

The popular disco drug affects the memory of people who take it, especially in high pressure situations, says the study by a clinical psychology PhD student, presented at a conference.

The research, conducted over four years, compared the average memory performance of three groups of about 30 participants.

They were ecstasy users who had not used the drug in two weeks, drug users who did not take ecstasy and people who did not use illicit drugs.

"Using standard clinical neuropsychological tests, we identified small deficits in the average memory performance of ecstasy users compared to both of the other groups," said researcher John Brown, from The Australian National University.

But he said another test found relatively large memory deficits that appeared to be caused by problems processing information at the time it was being stored, rather than failure to store information.




Mr Brown said sets of 10 triplets of unrelated words were quickly read to participants with about one second between each triplet. They then had to recall as many triplets as they could.

The results were significant enough to suggest that ecstasy users might experience "functional deficits" in demanding real-life situations.

"The average rate at which ecstasy users learnt new information under difficult conditions was significantly lower than that of marijuana users," Mr Brown said.


Here is a link to original article.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=4520





Disco drug?


8)

Thanks for the article, but don't forget to post your source next time.

I vaguely remember an article similar to this from a while back, but for some reason I can't quite remember what it was...

Well from my use over a 5year period, I know i have lost my short term memory because of pills.

yes, indeed, i don't think my memory is as good as it was before. years ago i would spend less time trying to memorise stuff for exams, could recall small things much better, etc.

oh and the article is about loss of memory - and then Mac asks MI not to forget....

hehehehe...

em, what was i laughing about? oh yes, so i turn to the guy next to me and say, are you laughing at me 'cause i'm black...



8)

em, what was i laughing about? oh yes, so i turn to the guy next to me and say, are you laughing at me 'cause i'm black...

Thats a good one.
:D 8(

ecstacy users who had not used the drug in two weeks? i dunno about u but im still pretty hazy 2 weeks after dropping, why dont they test users who havent used E in say a year or two? short term memory problems are part and parcel of drug use, what i want to know is if my brain is being permanently affected, say in 10 years will it still be a bit crispy?

next time im forced to remember random sets of words ill remember to blame it on the drugs ....

^^ I concur. 2 weeks is not long enough to show semi-complete resetting of the serotonin system. Hell, deviations from controls are detectable longer than that, up to a month. I'd suggest two months is probably a good minimum point.

As I suggested in the front-page version, how have they selected the control group? The socioeconomic demographics of ecstasy users are markedly different from controls. These memory "deficits" may merely reflect preexisting differences.

I am certain that my long term use has resulted in some memory loss as well. I however think that my speed use could have contributed, I can't say definately that it was just mdma as I have been a poly-drug abuser in the past.

i am not denying MDMA's obvious detrimental effect on my memory/attention span. however i want to know if these effects are permanent (which i doubt... brains can recover from massive trauma) and question the real-life relevence of remembering sets of words... if i forgot what colour traffic lights mean stop and which mean go, or that hot stuff burns me i might give a damn, but sets of words? gimme a break...

nah the remembering sets of words excercise was just used as a simple example where people had to test their memorys. it was just an easy way to determine whos memory sucks and whos doesnt...

i agree that it messes with your memory. one day when i was scattered i went to have a shower and there was no shampoo, so i went to get some out of the cupboard in a different room. but instead of getting shampoo i got a roll of toilet paper and walked back to the toilet... i didnt even need to go?? 8(

I don't think my memory is any worse now than before I started using drugs...... if only I could remember how good my memory was back then

MDMA definetly plays with your memory. I have problems getting words together after a week or so after ingesting MDMA. Having had a long break I definetly noticed a decrease in memory and attention after MDMA. Not so intense memory problems as Pot.

However, in the long term I have definetly noticed speedy recovery after a month or more of the last ingestion. Which is why I will not be having MDMA for quite a long time, since my job requires me to have a pretty good memory, all the time.

hmm.... so that's why my short-term memory has been so poor the last few weeks...

probably not a good idea to have anymore mdma between now and exams then...

heh my point is who cares if your memory aint what it used to be, even the mona lisa's falling apart after all....

unlesss it somehow negatively affects my life then i aint fussed. soon your brain will be a pile of ashes or worm food anyway, so why this obsession with trying to keep it in perfect condition?

reminds me of that ad "retire... THEN live"

hahahahaha

I agree that I have found definate memory loss. But I believe it is more related to meth use than pills. The only thing that really bothers me about this is the painfully small sample group Then they go ahead and say there are SMALL differences... Doesn't seem very accurate to me unfortunatley.

I agree, Three groups of around 30 people is way too small as a sample size.

-- sorry guys, I felt obliged to edit this post after reading the original posting more thouroughly, I'm a complete moron... skimmed over the original posting without noticing source of the info - the same study at ANU I was talking about. Sorry...8(

um I've kinda forgotten what this thread is . I think I might go back to drinking alcohol because hey alcohol doesn't cause damage to the brain.

we all know that ecstasy does not cause irreparable harm, even used in dosages that compare to that of a vodka bottle a day alcoholic. Though anyone with an MDMA habit that large is destined for a pretty bad life irrespective of their drug usage.

This simply highlights what a safe drug E is, that the worse damage one can expect after years of constant usage, (and this in itself is not conclusive) is that you ability to process real time information is slightly slowed (at a barely meassurable rate).

Compared to the better life I've lived in that time, the problems I've solved, the increase in my other mental facilities (emotional intelligence for one) the price paid is chicken feed and I would for one would gladly pay that price any day of the week.

MDMA compared to practically any other drug (except say LSD) will alway come out top with the benefits/disadvantages and will readily destroy anyone's argument that we are dealing with a drug that is dangerous to the individual and society.

memory still o.k Been using for a long time, over five years

No shit. After I come down, I can't remember what I was talking about 5 seconds prior.