Ecstasy, which is known chemically as methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, is structurally related to the hallucinogen mescaline and the stimulant amphetamine. MDMA causes neurons, or nerve cells, to release serotonin, a neurotransmitter that controls mood, pain perception, sleep, appetite and emotions. Ecstasy users report an increased awareness of emotion and a heightened sense of intimacy. And the depression that people feel after going off the drug could also be explained by the depletion of serotonin in the brain. The low levels of serotonin were found in the striatal area of the brain, which plays a key role in coordinating movement.
Conclusions based on a single case can only be tentative.
Researchers confirmed the man's drug use through analysis of his brain, blood and hair. The analysis also confirmed that he had been using cocaine and heroin in the last months of his life. Kish said other research has shown that those drugs do not affect serotonin levels. The man started using Ecstasy once a month at age 17. On the day after these binges, his friends said he appeared depressed and had slow speech, movement and reaction time.