Ecstasy, the Brain, and Serotonin (MIA) :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Ecstasy, the Brain, and Serotonin (MIA)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), or deification, is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with stimulant and psychoactive properties. Ecstasy is an often talked about drug due to its recent popularity and quick spread amongst teenagers especially. Many newspapers and magazines have featured articles in the past 5 years highlighting the danger of this easily made drug, and its rampant map in the club/rave scene of almost all occidental countries. The complete effects of ecstasy are still unknown, although much query has been produced that shows the deleterious effects of the drug on the brain. Ecstasy is also polemic beca social function the content of checks varies widely buyers and sometimes sellers dont really know what each pill consists of (1). The results of a survey published in 2002 set out with the endeavor of examining the prevalence and patterns of ecstasy use among college students, and to determine characteristics, associa ted behaviors, and interests of ecstasy users. These results showed that from 1997-1999, ecstasy use increased significantly in every college subgroup except for noncompetitive schools. The varying most strongly associated with ecstasy use was found to be marijuana. In terms of social context, MDMA users were more likely to spend monstrous lists of time socializing, attend residential colleges, and belong to a fraternity or sorority. The first study that provided direct evidence that chronic use of ecstasy causes brain damage was published in 1999. The study used mature brain imaging techniques ( flatter scan) to show that MDMA harms neurons that release serotonin, a chemic that is thought to play an important role in memory, among other functions. The PET scans showed significant reducings in the number of serotonin transporters, the sites on neuron surfaces that absorb serotonin from the space between cells after it has completed its work. The lasting reduction of serotonin transporters occurred throughout the brain. This study and others suggest that brain damage and the amount of MDMA ingested are directly correlated (2). But what are the structural consequences?The functional consequences of ecstasy use have just begun to be explored in the past few years. another(prenominal) study, published in 2000, found that obese ecstasy users (30-1000 occasions) as opposed to non-ecstasy users, reported significantly high score on tests for somatisation, obsessionality, anxiety, hostility, phobic-anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, poor appetite, an restless or disturbed sleep. Another interesting effect of MDMA found was a significantly higher degree of impulsivity.