The results of that research indicates that light users of MDMA do exhibit mild cognitive impairment during the short-term in which they occasionally use the drug but that after six months or more of abstinence, their performance on the same cognitive tests used to identify those changes returns to being indistinguishable from the performance of those who have never been exposed to the drug (Golding, Groome, Rycroft, et al., 2007).
The Short-Term and Long-Term Consequences of Heavy MDMA Use
Animal studies have conclusively established that MDMA causes permanent destruction of neurons and synaptic processes that are essential to the physiological mechanisms of neurotransmitter secretion, response, and reuptake by virtue of the selectively neurotoxic properties of the drug on 5-HT neurons in rats (Verrico, Miller, & Madras, 2007). Those findings are consistent with anecdotal evidence collected from clinical human data in connection with the long-term cognitive, behavioral, and mood regulation functions of repeated MDMA users (Roiser, Rogers, & Sahakian, 2007). However, studies based on data from humans have been limited by the inherent difficulty of isolating the effects of (just) MDMA from that of other recreational drugs since MDMA users typically experiment with other illicit drugs, such as cannabis and cocaine, as well. Another inherent difficulty and limitation of those studies is that some of the mood differences (particularly in relation to impulsivity) may be contributing causes of drug use rather than results of drug use, much less of any specific drug. While acknowledging those complexities associated with the research, it appears that after controlling for other types of drug use, the results suggest that only heavy and long-term use of MDMA is necessarily linked to permanent changes in brain physiology of sufficient significance to produce measurable behavioral changes. Generally, the light or occasional use of MDMA does not appear to result in the same types of cognitive changes (Roiser, Rogers, & Sahakian, 2007).
The Consequences of MDMA Use by Pregnant Mothers
Some of the most serious implications of the recreational use of MDMA have to do with its use by pregnant mothers (Koprich, Chen, Kanaan, et al., 2003). Specifically, rat pups born to mothers exposed to MDMA during the gestational period that corresponds to neurological and neurotransmitter process...
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