Even small amounts of the drug ecstasy can harm the brains of first time users, a new study shows. This is the first study to examine the effects of low doses of ecstasy on the brain. The study was presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, in Chicago.
“We found a decrease in blood circulation in some areas of the brain in young adults who just started to use ecstasy,” says Maartje de Win, who led the study at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. “We also found a relative decrease in verbal memory performance in ecstasy users compared to non-users.?
Ecstasy is an illegal amphetamine, which is taken by clubbers for its euphoric effects. The drug increases the amount of a neurotransmitter, called serotonin, in the brain. Serotonin is involved in regulating several brain functions, including mood and memory.