There is no convincing evidence that moderate MDMA use is associated with structural or functional brain alterations in neuroimaging measures .
MDMA ( " ecstasy " ) is widely used as a recreational drug , although there has been some debate about its neurotoxic effects in humans .
However , most studies have investigated subjects with heavy use patterns , and the effects of transient MDMA use are unclear .
In this review , we therefore focus on subjects with moderate use patterns , in order to assess the evidence for harmful effects .
Neural correlates of working memory in pure and polyvalent ecstasy (MDMA) users
Poor cognitive performance in ecstasy ( 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine ; MDMA ) users has been related to the well-recognized neurotoxic effects of the drug upon central serotonergic and possibly also dopaminergic systems . However , concomitant use of other drugs has been a critical confound in most investigations . In this study we used an n-back task and fMRI to investigate working memory performance and related cerebral activation in eight , currently abstinent pure MDMA users and two matched groups of polyvalent MDMA users and non-users . Pure MDMA users presented lower activations than controls and /or polyvalent users , most notably in inferior temporal regions , the angular gyrus and the striate cortex , whereas polyvalent users did not differ from controls . Our results suggest that altered brain activation patterns during cognitive processing in ecstasy users may be mainly associated with prior MDMA use . Concomitant use of other drugs may modify this effect
There is no convincing evidence that moderate MDMA use is associated with structural or functional brain alterations in neuroimaging measures .
MDMA ( " ecstasy " ) is widely used as a recreational drug , although there has been some debate about its neurotoxic effects in humans .
However , most studies have investigated subjects with heavy use patterns , and the effects of transient MDMA use are unclear .
In this review , we therefore focus on subjects with moderate use patterns , in order to assess the evidence for harmful effects .