{"title":"Editorial: Preface and Overview Second International MDMA ‘Ecstasy’ Conference in Australasia: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia","authors":"J. Broadbear, Andrew C. Parrott","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"1-2"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68097001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evaluating the Contribution of Serotonin Receptor Subtypes and ‘Binge’ 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) Exposure to the Discriminative Stimulus Effects of MDMA in Rats","authors":"Vanessa Smithies, J. Broadbear","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010055","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010055","url":null,"abstract":"3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ‘Ecstasy’) shares psychoactive effects with drugs that possess stimulant (e.g. amphetamine, the effects of which are primarily dopaminergic) and hallucinogenic properties (e.g. LSD, which has serotonergic effects) [1]. The majority of MDMA’s distinctive effects as well as its toxicity have been linked to its actions on serotonergic neurotransmission [2]. One way in which MDMA’s serotonergic effects can be studied is to train rats to distinguish dopaminergic stimulant effects from mood and perception-altering serotonergic effects using a three-way drug discrimination paradigm [3].","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"55-56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68097467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
C. Stough, E. Ogden, K. Owens, P. Swann, A. Gibbs, A. Parrott, K. Wesnes, R. King
{"title":"The Effects of MDMA and Methamphetamine on Car Driving Simulator Performance, Cognitive Skills, and Mood States","authors":"C. Stough, E. Ogden, K. Owens, P. Swann, A. Gibbs, A. Parrott, K. Wesnes, R. King","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010057","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010057","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this study was to investigate car driving skills and cognitive abilities after the consumption of methamphetamine and MDMA. In previous studies we have demonstrated significant decrements following sedative drugs such as cannabis, and stimulants such as dexamphetamine [1]. We have also documented the presence of stimulant drugs in many fatal traffic accidents, especially those involving road-train truck drivers in Australia [2]. There is however disagreement over whether acute doses of MDMA will impair or improve cognitive function and driving behaviours in humans. Ramaekers et al. [3] reported that an acute dose of 75mg MDMA improved tracking accuracy, but impaired speed adaptation during carfollowing. Dastrup et al. [4] noted that abstinent Ecstasy users were not impaired on car driving skills, but did assume extra risk. In an analysis of traffic accidents involving stimulant drugs, Verschraagen et al. [4] reported more fatalities involving MDMA than amphetamine. The present study was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0772762) to Professor Stough, Dr. Owens, and Dr. Ogden.","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68097520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou, J. Fisk, C. Montgomery, N. Bridges
{"title":"The Role of Executive Processes in Accounting for Prospective Memory Deficits in Ecstasy/Polydrug Users","authors":"Florentia Hadjiefthyvoulou, J. Fisk, C. Montgomery, N. Bridges","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010020","url":null,"abstract":"In order to investigate the role of executive processes in accounting for prospective memory deficits in ecstasy/polydrug users a sample of seventy three ecstasy/polydrug users and sixty seven polydrug/non-ecstasy users (control group) were assessed on executive functions and prospective memory measures. The self-report measure of executive function, the BRIEF-A was used to capture any possible behavioral manifestations of executive function in ecstasy/polydrug users in comparison to the control group. Three laboratory measures of prospective memory assessing short-term and long-term time based prospective memory and event based prospective memory were developed and administered. The short-term time based prospective memory task required the participants to ask for a questionnaire (measuring their level of fatigue) every 20 minutes throughout their test session. The percentage of occasions that the participant remembered to ask for the questionnaire was calculated for the first and the second half of the test session as well as the overall percentage. In the long term time based prospective memory test (PM element) participants were asked to post a delayed recall test in a prepaid envelope one, two, and three weeks after the test session. Finally, in the event based prospective memory test participants had to indicate whether two patterns appearing on the computer screen were different or the same, while at the same time remembering to press the F1 key at the end of each test segment in order to record their scores.","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"40 1","pages":"20-21"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68096935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Psychiatric Aspects Of MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine): The 'Diathesis-Stress' Explanatory Model","authors":"A. Parrott","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010034","url":null,"abstract":"The first individual case studies were published around 1990-1994, soon after MDMA was used for recreational purposes. In a comprehensive review of this case study literature, around one third of individuals had premorbid problems, while most cases did not have prior vulnerability factors [3]. Larger population surveys have found that recreational Ecstasy use is associated with significantly raised levels of depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, agoraphobia, and paranoid psychosis [4-10]. The occurrence of these problems is associated with lifetime Ecstasy/MDMA usage [4, 5]. Furthermore, around 70% of recreational users report improved psychiatric wellbeing, after quitting ecstasy [6]. Other functional problems in","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"34-35"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68096604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of ±3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) Administration on Social Emotional Processing in Humans","authors":"G. Bedi, H. Wit","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010008","url":null,"abstract":"Ecstasy users report that the drug produces feelings of increased empathy and sociability [1]. Such ‘empathogenic’ effects are thought to motivate recreational use of ecstasy [2]. In addition, the rationale for the proposed use of MDMA as an adjunct to psychotherapy centers on these effects [3]. Controlled studies confirm that MDMA administration produces prosocial feelings in humans [e.g. 4], and the drug alters rodent behavior in a way that is consistent with increased sociability [5]. However, there is as yet no evidence that controlled MDMA administration increases behaviors relevant to sociability and empathy in humans. In the present study, we examined the effects of MDMA (0.75mg/kg; 1.5mg/kg) on the identification of others’ emotional expressions, and on feelings associated with the ‘empathogenic’ profile. We also employed an active control drug, the psychostimulant methamphetamine (20mg), to assess whether these social effects are specific to MDMA, or generalize to other stimulants.","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"8-9"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68096710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are Females More Sensitive to MDMA-Related Discriminative Stimuli?","authors":"J. Broadbear, B. Tunstall, Katherine Beringer","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010010","url":null,"abstract":"are examples of interoceptive cues which enable experienced users to distinguish the effects of MDMA from those of other drugs. Serotonin neurotransmission positively modulates the release of oxytocin into plasma [2]. To test the hypothesis that oxytocin receptor activation contributes to the interoceptive cues of MDMA in male and female rats, two peptidic oxytocin receptor ligands, the agonist carbetocin [3] and antagonist atosiban [4], were utilised in a 3-way drug discrimination paradigm [5].","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"10-11"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68096755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Prospective and Retrospective Memory Problems in Regular Ecstasy Consumers: Is it Just About the Ecstasy?","authors":"A. Matthews, R. Bruno","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010017","url":null,"abstract":"Remembering to do things in the future (prospective memory) and remembering things in our past (retrospective memory) are important everyday memory skills. Several studies suggest an association between use of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) and impairments in prospective (remembering to remember) and retrospective memory (recollection of past events) [1, 2]. However, some research suggests that other drug use (e.g., cannabis), non drug use factors (e.g., intensive dancing, overheating) and general anxiety levels are more strongly associated with these cognitive deficits [3-5]. The aim of this research was to investigate the contribution of these factors to subjective prospective and retrospective memory errors in a large sample of regular ecstasy consumers.","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"17-18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68096841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Acute MDMA Exposure Causes Reference Memory Impairments in the Radial Arm Maze with Rats","authors":"D. Harper, C. Kay, M. Hunt","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010024","url":null,"abstract":"disruption to working memory function [1, 2]. This possibility was examined using a version of the 8-arm radial maze task with rats that is designed to separate working memory function from reference memory function [3]. In Experiment 1 the effects of MDMA were compared to the classic amnetic drug scopolamine (which has been shown to produce working memory deficits in the current radial arm maze task [4]). The effects of MDMA were also compared to the dopamine agonist GBR12909 and serotonin agonist citalopram (in Experiment 2) as well as the dopamine D2 agonist Quinpirole and the dopamine D1 agonist A68930 (in Experiment 3) in order to further examine the possible role of dopamine in an MDMA-induced performance deficit.","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"24-25"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68096970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deteriorating Cost-Benefit Ratios for Ecstasy/MDMA with Repeated Usage","authors":"A. O'Sullivan, A. Parrott","doi":"10.2174/1874941001104010038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/1874941001104010038","url":null,"abstract":"68 recreational Ecstasy/MDMA users were categorized into four subgroups: light versus heavy users (+20 occasions lifetime), subdivided into current and former users (usage within 6 months). Each unpaid volunteer completed a questionnaire about their personal experiences on Ecstasy/MDMA. The four questions here covered experiences the first and last times on Ecstasy. Positive effects were assessed using a ten-point rating scale from 1 (none) to 10 (maximum), while ‘negative’ effects were","PeriodicalId":89289,"journal":{"name":"The open addiction journal","volume":"4 1","pages":"38-39"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68097704","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}