How Ecstasy Blows Your Mind By Susan Katz Miller Ecstasy, the raver's recreational drug, may do lasting damage to the brain. A group of American researchers reported last week that the level of activity of at least one neuro-transmitter in the brain is reduced in people who use the drug frequently. They also say that the personality profiles of people who take ecstasy are different from those who do not - although it is not clear whether this is an effect of the drug or a characteristic of people who choose to take it. Previous studies in rodents and primates have shown that Ecstasy, or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) selectively damages brain cells that contain the neuro-transmitter Serotonin (5-HT), which is associated with mood. At last week's annual meeting of the society for neuro-science in Washington DC, a team led by Una McCann and George Ricaurte of John Hopkins University in Baltimore presented the results of a study comparing 30 Ecstasy users with 28 volunteers who had never take n the drug. The ecstasy users had taken the drug an average of 95 times over about five years. Analysis of the fluid drained by spinal taps revealed that the drug users had significantly lower levels of a marker for brain Serotonin function in their cerebrospinal fluid, which bathes the brain. There searchers are concerned that this may be evidence of the "Neurotoxic potential" of the drug. In personality tests, the team found that the group who took ecstasy were less impulsive and hostile, and showed greater constraint and control. These are all aspects of behaviour thought to be mediated by serotonin. McCann points out that "similar 'beneficial' personality changes" have been reported by psychiatrists who advocate using the drug therapeutically. Disorders such as Depression, Sleep problems and Panic Attacks have been linked to an imbalance of Serotonin. However, McCann cautions that no one knows what the long-term effects of treating people with Ecstasy may be. The team from Baltimore hopes that research into the drugs effects might also help to explain the role of serotonin in normal behaviour. The researchers cannot know for sure whether the personalities of those who took ecstasy changed after taking the drug, or were different from the start. "People that gravitate to taking this drug are often less hostile. In general, psychedelic drug abusing people are more mellow, calm, laid back," says George Heninger, a psychiatrist at Yale University. To show that such changes are induced by the drug, people would have to be given a Spinal Tap, and behavioural tests, before and after taking the drug - "And that's hard to do since it's an illegal drug", says Heninger. From "New Scientist", 2Oth November, 1993