<http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=117&art_id=qw1143091623746B243>
<http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-03-22T173353Z_01_COL263112_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-ECSTASY-PERMANENT-DC.XML&archived=False>
<http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7002886691>
Ecstasy-related memory impairment can be permanent
Wed Mar 22, 2006 5:33 PM GMT 
 
By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Taking the drug Ecstasy can impair
memory and learning, but giving up the drug can stop the slide
in mental capacity, a new study shows. However, researchers also
found evidence that in heavy Ecstasy users, the effects on
memory may persist even after they quit.

"The message should be loud and clear that if you're using a
lot, you're not going to recover learning and memory," Dr.
Konstantine K. Zakzanis of the University of Toronto at
Scarborough, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health.

Zakzanis and his colleagues had previously shown that people who
used Ecstasy, also known by the chemical name MDMA, experienced
a decline in their memory over a one-year period. The 15 study
participants' reported using the drug from 3 to 225 times over
the course of the year.

The researchers looked at the same 15 people after another year
had passed. Seven were still using the drug, while eight had
become abstinent. The researchers evaluated their memory and
learning using three tests, including the Rivermead Behavioral
Memory Test, which is designed to evaluate everyday memory
function.

In all of the former users who had been abstinent for at least
32 weeks, test scores improved compared with their scores one
year previously. However, some individuals' scores stayed the
same. Current users showed continued decline, with more frequent
and longer-term use of the drug tied to greater loss of memory
and learning function.

The worst impairments were seen in episodic memory, meaning the
sort of memory a person uses while watching a news story on
television and then trying to describe it to another person
later.

"The general conclusions that one can make are that if you stop
using, your memory won't get worse," Zakzanis said. "Depending
on how much you've used, your memory may or may not recover."

Zakzanis pointed out that damage to memory and learning is just
one harmful aspect of Ecstasy use, which also has been tied to
depression.

SOURCE: Neurology 2006;66:740-741.

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<http://www.neurology.org/cgi/search?sortspec=relevance&author1=Zakzanis&fulltext=mdma&pubdate_year=2006>
NEUROLOGY 2006;66:740-741
© 2006 American Academy of Neurology 

Brief Communications

Memory impairment in now abstinent MDMA users and continued
users: A longitudinal follow-up 

Konstantine K. Zakzanis, PhD and Zachariah Campbell, MA
From the Department of Life Sciences, University of Toronto at
Scarborough. 

ABSTRACT:

The authors further investigated the functional consequences of
continued neurotoxicity of (±)3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine
(MDMA) use. Fifteen participants who were previously given a
brief neuropsychological battery were tested for a third time 2
years after baseline. At 2 years, seven participants were still
using MDMA, whereas eight participants had become abstinent from
MDMA since 1-year testing. Current users demonstrated further
declines in memory ability; former users improved on several
memory measures or remained static in performance. 

Disclosure: The authors report no conflicts of interest. 

Received September 6, 2005. Accepted in final form November 8,
2005. 

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Konstantine K.
Zakzanis, PhD, University of Toronto at Scarborough, Department
of Life Sciences (Neuroscience), 1265 Military Trail, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada; e-mail: zakzanis@utsc.utoronto.ca