ArticleAddiction (Abingdon, England)2011
Residual neurocognitive features of long-term ecstasy users with minimal exposure to other drugs.
Article in Addiction (Abingdon, England), 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 117 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review of the MDMA Model to Address Social Impairment in Autism.Current neuropharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of executive functioning in ecstasy/polydrug users.Psychological medicine · 2016Pooled it
- Memory-related hippocampal functioning in ecstasy and amphetamine users: a prospective fMRI study.Psychopharmacology · 2013Trial
- Durability of improvement in post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and absence of harmful effects or drug dependency after 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy: a prospective long-term follow-up study.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2013Trial
- Substance Abuse and Sexual Functioning: An Overview of Mechanisms.Addiction & health · 2024Review
- Social anxiety and MDMA-assisted therapy investigation: a novel clinical trial protocol.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Worsening of the Toxic Effects of (±)International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Article
- Who is the typical psychedelics user? Methodological challenges for research in psychedelics use and its consequences.Nordisk alkohol- & narkotikatidskrift : NAT · 2021Article
- Adolescent brain cognitive development (ABCD) study: Overview of substance use assessment methods.Developmental cognitive neuroscience · 2018Review
- Separating the agony from ecstasy: R(-)-3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine has prosocial and therapeutic-like effects without signs of neurotoxicity in mice.Neuropharmacology · 2018Article
- The effects of ecstasy on neurotransmitter systems: a review on the findings of molecular imaging studies.Psychopharmacology · 2016Review
- fNIRS suggests increased effort during executive access in ecstasy polydrug users.Psychopharmacology · 2015Article
- Learning, Memory, and Executive Function in New MDMA Users: A 2-Year Follow-Up Study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2015Article
- Article
- Alterations to global but not local motion processing in long-term ecstasy (MDMA) users.Psychopharmacology · 2014Article
- Depression, impulsiveness, sleep, and memory in past and present polydrug users of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy).Psychopharmacology · 2014Article
- Article
- MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) Analogues as Tools to Characterize MDMA-Like Effects: An Approach to Understand Entactogen Pharmacology.Current neuropharmacology · 2013Article
- Human ecstasy (MDMA) polydrug users have altered brain activation during semantic processing.Psychopharmacology · 2013Article
- Evidence for chronically altered serotonin function in the cerebral cortex of female 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine polydrug users.Archives of general psychiatry · 2012Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsIn field studies assessing cognitive function in illicit ecstasy users, there are several frequent confounding factors that might plausibly bias the findings toward an overestimate of ecstasy-induced neurocognitive toxicity. We designed an investigation seeking to minimize these possible sources of bias.
designWe compared illicit ecstasy users and non-users while (1) excluding individuals with significant life-time exposure to other illicit drugs or alcohol; (2) requiring that all participants be members of the 'rave' subculture; and (3) testing all participants with breath, urine and hair samples at the time of evaluation to exclude possible surreptitious substance use. We compared groups with adjustment for age, gender, race/ethnicity, family-of-origin variables and childhood history of conduct disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. We provide significance levels without correction for multiple comparisons.
settingField study.
participantsFifty-two illicit ecstasy users and 59 non-users, aged 18-45 years. MEASUREMENTS: Battery of 15 neuropsychological tests tapping a range of cognitive functions.
findingsWe found little evidence of decreased cognitive performance in ecstasy users, save for poorer strategic self-regulation, possibly reflecting increased impulsivity. However, this finding might have reflected a pre-morbid attribute of ecstasy users, rather than a residual neurotoxic effect of the drug.
conclusionsIn a study designed to minimize limitations found in many prior investigations, we failed to demonstrate marked residual cognitive effects in ecstasy users. This finding contrasts with many previous findings-including our own-and emphasizes the need for continued caution in interpreting field studies of cognitive function in illicit ecstasy users.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.