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Experiments with nonhuman primates have indicated that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, or "Ecstasy") can damage brain serotonin neurons at dosages similar to those taken recreationally by humans. In this study, positron emission tomography (PET) was used to evaluate the effects of MDMA on serotonin neurons in human brains.
Fourteen former users of MDMA (average number of uses reported, 228) who were currently abstaining from the drug and 15 controls who had never used the drug received PET scanning with a carbon-11-labeled radioligand that selectively labels the serotonin transmitter (a structural element of the serotonin neuron). Urine and blood samples were used to check for abstinence.
Compared with nonusers, former MDMA users had…